He Who Calls
by Felix Sterreira
Summary: The gang's devestated after William's betrayal. They've found a possible Lyoko Warrior, an exchange student from Portugal. He's smarter then Jeremy, but he's also a twelve year old who loves to piss people off. Takes place after DoubleTake. AxOC Complete!
1. Chapter 1

He Who Calls

Chapter 1

Milo Salian stepped off the bus to Kadic Academy. He was an exchange student from Portugal. He had brown hair, and strange colorless eyes. A group of kids were standing around. The first thing he noticed was the wide variety of strange appearances. There were three boys, two of whom looked normal. The third had his blond hair spiked up with a purple dot near his head. He was only wearing purple, and he had bellbottom pants on. The others were dressed normally, at least, but one of the girls had pink hair. The blond boy looked up.

"Milo Salian," he said. "The new kid."

"Yes," said Milo with a decent accent. He had worked on it before coming. "Who are you?"

"Jeremy Belpois," he said. "The only kid with a grade average within two points of yours."

"How do you know my grades?" Milo asked. "You got the Diban Snitch Program?"

"Maybe," said Jeremy. "What's it to you?"

"You're the only other kid I've ever met who's had the guts and brains to use illegal spy hardware. But you're not the only one who can use it. Since you're Jeremy Belpois, I'm guessing they're Aelita Stones, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, and Ulrich Stern."

"You got in to the psychological profiles?" asked Jeremy sharply. "Those are impossible to crack. Aelita and I worked on it for weeks with no results."

"I'll show you how," said Milo.

"Don't need your help. I could access the psych reports at your old school. You're known to be disloyal and friendless."

"You're known to have feelings for Aelita Stones, which you can conceal from her and not anyone else."

"Psych reports. I hate them."

"That, I learned from your body language. You've looked at her at least six times while you've been talking to me."

"You're only twelve," said Jeremy, blushing. "Keep your mouth shut about things you don't know."

"I skipped a grade. Doesn't that qualify me to see the obvious?" Milo cracked a smile for the first time.

"You have a gift for mockery. I think you're going to get along with everyone fine," Jeremy said as he grinned back. "Let me introduce you."

"You're the genius kid?" asked Ulrich as soon as Milo walked into view. "With the hundred point average, right?"

"In Portugal. France might be a harder nut to crack."

"Don't listen to a word he says," said Jeremy. "He's great at leading you into traps."

"Why thank you," said Milo.

"This is Aelita, Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi," said Jeremy. "Guys, this is Milo Salian, the only human in the known universe to be able to out smart-aleck me."


	2. Chapter 2

He Who Calls

Chapter 2

Milo had left shortly after being introduced to go meet the teachers.

"So," said Aelita. "You think he's a good replacement for William?"

"Maybe," said Jeremy. "He's extremely smart, and, if the records are anything to go by, an excellent fighter. On the other hand, he's twelve, annoying, and loves to make people angry."

"If he can stop Xana, who cares?" said Ulrich. "I say show him, and let him believe he'll remember through a return to the past without going to Lyoko. We also don't let him go to Lyoko until we're sure."

"All in favor of Ulrich's plan?" asked Odd.

"I," said everyone.

"Who volunteers to tell him?"

"I will," said Aelita. "I haven't done my community service hours, and showing a new kid around the school qualifies."

Milo had met all the teachers, and he already knew he was going to make a monkey out of Jim. The man obviously wanted his track skills more than anything else in the world. Milo had been good at track in Portugal. Aelita walked up. Milo was sitting on the roof, looking out over the city.

"Milo," said Aelita. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Am I about to be let in on the big secret of why your friends and you go to the infirmary more often then any other kids in the school? And why Jeremy has attended one P.E. class in the past year?" asked Milo.

"Yes," said Aelita.

"I'm honored," said Milo. He sounded sincere. "Why me? No, I have a few guesses. Tell me if I'm right."

"Okay," said Aelita, wondering how he could have guesses.

"You're fighting something. Something tough. Something that lives in the abandoned factory. And it can fight using the supercomputer down there." Aelita was clearly blown away.

"How did you know?"

"I knew about the supercomputer because I've been hacking military and technological advance records since I was nine. As for fighting it, look who's on the team. Three fighters, two computer geniuses. And now you're trying to recruit someone who does both. By the way," Milo continued. "You're not very inconspicuous. The teachers are going to figure it out soon. So fill me in on the details."

"It's called Xana," said Aelita.

Jeremy looked at the computer, not believing his eyes. He had tried to find William in the see. The program had led him deeper and deeper into the sea, until finally, he had gone under it. And there he found the URL addresses for Google, Yahoo, and all the other well-known search engines.

"The internet," Jeremy breathed. "That's what's under the Digital Sea. The internet."

Jeremy stared as the program delved deeper. It went into a tiny pixel on small search engine called Search For It. He looked deeper and deeper until deep into the pixel, he saw the Eye of Xana.


	3. Chapter 3

He Who Calls

Chapter 3

"Xana, huh?" asked Milo. "Okay. But nice lie. I nearly missed it."

"What lie?" asked Aelita, heart racing.

"I know my memory will be erased if we return to the past without me going to Lyoko," said Milo. "If not everyone would remember everything that happened. Who came up with the plan to try to fool me? It's actually quite good."

"Ulrich," replied Aelita, and then slapped her hand to her forehead. "Odd was right. I _am_ a terrible liar."

"A liar's not a good thing to be," said Milo. "I'm an expert at sifting the truth out of people. An expert liar would have told me eventually. Besides, you were convincing enough. You just have to work on not being fooled by a casual tone." Aelita groaned.

"The plan's ruined now. What am I supposed to tell the others? 'Um, hi guys, our plan's completely ruined because I can't keep a secret?' I'm lousy at this."

"For the last time, no you're not," said Milo firmly. "Anyone would've fallen for that." Aelita actually smiled at that.

"Okay," she said. "We have to virtualize you know. Jeremy was talking as though you were just smart. You're brilliant!" And sort of cute for a twelve-year-old, she thought, although she wouldn't have said it out loud under threat of death.

"It makes sense now," Jeremy said. "The Digital Sea is a portal to the internet. Xana was trying to get all of Lyoko on the internet! Why didn't I see this before?"

"Um, Jeremy?" asked Milo. He and Aelita had walked in five minutes before. "Did you know you were talking out loud?" Again, that strange tone. He wasn't mocking Jeremy, he honestly wanted to know.

"Yeah, I did," admitted Jeremy. "It just makes it easier to think." Milo nodded.

"Well," said Aelita. "Milo guessed half of our secret and saw through the plan. So he has to be virtualized, because he won't let us return to the past until he has been."

"He can't really stop us," said Jeremy. "Everyone needs to vote."

"_I_ won't let you return to the past until he's been virtualized," said Aelita stubbornly. "He's unnaturally smart. We need him."

"All right," said Jeremy. "But we should still vote. I'll call everyone."

In Odd and Ulrich's dorm room, they were discussing Yumi.

"What if I don't want to say I like her?" asked Ulrich. "What if I don't like her at all?"

"What if, huh? That sure would be crazy," said Odd, deliberately misinterpreting. "So when are you going to tell her?"

"The same time you admit to Aelita," said Ulrich dryly. "Everyone knows she and Jeremy got over each other a month ago."

'No rumors have been confirmed about my love life!" said Odd, blushing. "Unlike you." That was when Ulrich's cell rang.

"Yeah. Okay. Can we phone-vote? I say yes." Ulrich looked over at Odd. "Odd, let the new guy in?"

"Yeah, sure," said Odd. "It'll be good for him and better for us!"

"Odd says yes."

"So did Yumi and Aelita," said Jeremy. "He's in. But Yumi and Aelita had seen proof he was good. You sure you don't need too?"

"At this point, no," said Ulrich. "See you later."


	4. Chapter 4

He Who Calls

Chapter 4

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_Most Recent Entry:_

_Ulrich guessed my secret, and that probably means I'm going to have to give in to whatever sick blackmail he can think of. Every damn time for the past month I mention Yumi, he brings up Aelita. Maybe I better just get over her. All the damn letters I wrote and never sent. If I sent them all, Aelita would have nightmares for weeks. I remember the last time she and Jeremy fought. They're only close friends now. He got a little too overprotective. I remember how happy I was that day. I like Aelita, but if that's got me rooting for two of my best friends to fight, maybe I should get over it._

"All right," said Jeremy. They were at the Factory. Milo was down in a scanner with Aelita and Ulrich in the other ones. "Transfer, Milo. Scanner, Milo. Virtualization."

Three figures appeared on the Forest Sector of Lyoko. Aelita and Ulrich stood in their new gear. Milo appeared wearing a two-piece black suit with a top hat. He had a bracelet on either wrist with blades around the edges.

"Hmm," he said, and thought of fighting. The blades on his wrists started spinning very quickly. "Razor bracelets. Anything else?"

"Try the hat," said Ulrich. Milo took it off and flicked his wrist. The hat transformed into a metal plate with blades similar to the ones on his wrists around the edges.

"Razor hat," Milo said. "I like it." He tossed the hat. He thought of it whirling and hovering near Ulrich, then Aelita, then coming back to him and turning into a top hat again. It quickly executed the commands.

"Did you do that?" asked Aelita.

"Yeah!" said Milo.

"Oh no," breathed Jeremy. "Xana is attacking! A tower has been activated due north."

"Right," said Ulrich, and they started running north.

"What's the attack?" asked Aelita.

"I don't know yet," said Jeremy. "But it's probably after Odd or Yumi!"

"Someone say my name?" asked Yumi. She had just climbed down the ladder. "I decided to come check out the new guy."

"Xana attacked!" said Jeremy.

Milo was tired of running. He thought about flying. He leaped into the air and kicked off himself in a strange jackknife formation. By repeating it he was able to fly forward.

"Amazing," he said.

"Guys, I'm sending vehicles!" said Jeremy. "There are two Creepers up ahead. And they brought William."

Odd was lying around thinking about Aelita and Ulrich. A small spider crawled near him. He jumped up, terrified of the symbol on its back. The Eye of Xana.

"The Digital Sea leads to the internet," said Jeremy. "Don't let William jump back into it. Devirtualize him."

The spider bit Odd, then died. Odd turned green. A small Eye appeared where he had been bitten. He fainted.


	5. Chapter 5

He Who Calls

Chapter 5

_Journal of Aelita Hopper_

_Most Recent Entry_

_The new kid Milo is only twelve. Not a good match for me. At least I can tell myself that. I can't make myself believe it._

The Creepers crawled out from behind two trees. The tower was in plain sight. Ulrich pulled out his sabers. Aelita charged an energy field. Milo's bracelets started spinning. And William stepped out from behind the tower.

"I'm going to find Odd," Yumi said to Jeremy. "Keep me informed."

"Right," said Jeremy as she ran off.

William charged at Aelita, completely ignoring the other two.

"You!" Milo yelled. "So this is where you ended up." As Aelita expanded the energy field to block William's zanbato, it became covered with black smoke. He pushed her over to the edge of the sector. He pulled his sword back, about to knock her in, when Milo stuck his wrist in between. The sword vibrated with the razor. "Not again," said Milo. "I promised. I swore to her that I would never let you kill anyone ever again." No one had any idea what he was talking about except William.

"I made my choice, Milo," William said seductively. "Make yours. Save this girl, and you're against me. Shove her over the edge, and we start a new age. Just like last time." As an answer, Miro cut William's face with his other wrist. "Ah," William said, and he turned into a translucent outline. He became liquid, and flowed back into the Digital Sea.

"He'll be back, said Jeremy. "When you get devirtualized, you come here. He goes to the Digital Sea."

"Guys?" asked Ulrich. "A little help would be appreciated." He was blocking shots from the remaining Creeper. He had destroyed the other one. Aelita promptly blew it up with an energy field. Then she turned to Milo.

"Thanks for the help," she said and blushed. Then she ran to the tower. Two Krabbes came out of nowhere and started shooting at her.

"Odd!" exclaimed Yumi. She had just found him lying on the couch, green, with his journal lying open on the floor. "Oh my god!" She put a finger to his heart, then pulse. He wasn't dead. She picked him up and ran to the infirmary with him. He grew greener with every step.

"Krabbes!" yelled Ulrich. He jumped on top of one and blew it up. Milo promptly did the same, taking an amazing leap.

"Nice power," said Jeremy. "I'll name it Acrobat."

"Get into the tower," Ulrich said to Aelita. "We don't know if Odd is doing okay."

Aelita stepped into the tower and entered 'Code Lyoko.' It was deactivated. On Earth, Odd reverted to his original color and woke up. Yumi quickly dropped him.

"Ouch," he said. "I'm okay."

_Journal of Aelita Hopper_

_New Entry_

_A few weeks passed since the Milo's first Lyoko trip. One or two small missions in between, but no sign of William. Milo won't talk about how he knows him to anyone, but he says he might tell _me_ later. I can't lie to myself any longer. There's a huge dance coming up, and I don't think Milo has any prospect of going. Maybe he'll reconsider when I ask him to go with me. Or maybe, Aelita, he'll think you're a freak for asking him out after you've known him a month and a half. If he thinks that way, I'll say I just wanted to go as friends. If not, there's always the good old truth._


	6. Chapter 6

He Who Calls

Chapter 6

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_New Entry_

_There's a dance coming up. I keep on thinking about asking Aelita, but I always decide against it. I think Jeremy might ask her to get back together soon. I should try and make my move before that._

_Journal of Aelita Hopper_

_New Entry_

_I don't know how I started liking Milo. It began when he was the new kid, kind of naïve, the youngest, but smarter then any of us. I like smart kids; Jeremy was smart and he was nice a lot of the time, but he was too overprotective. If he asked me to get back together today I'd say no. Then Milo saved me on Lyoko. After that we hung out a lot. We like the same music, hate the same teachers, laugh at the same things. He might think of me in the romantic sense yet, but I am his closest friend._

Odd walked up to Aelita's dorm room door. Then he turned away.

"No, no, I can't say that," he muttered. "She'd think I was goofing around." He turned back toward the door. It swung open and hit him in the nose. "Ow! Damn!"

"Odd!" said Aelita. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm okay. Just… um… going to the soccer field to watch Ulrich practice!"

"All right," said Aelita. "See you later then."

"See you," said Odd. He walked away, grinding his fist into his forehead. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered at himself.

Milo lay in his bed, headphones on. His iPod suddenly displayed an image. The Eye of Xana. An electric wave traveled up his headphone cords.

"Ah," he said. Then he tumbled out of the bed and twitched a little on the ground, electric waves still coming through his headphones.

"Oh no," said Jeremy. Then he picked up his cell and called Aelita. "A tower's been activated, and William's there. Phone Odd and Yumi, I'll get Ulrich and Milo."

"I'm on my way," she said. Then she raised her hand.

"Yes, Aelita?" Mrs. Hertz said.

"May I leave the room? I have to go to the infirmary."

"Yes, go," said Mrs. Hertz. Aelita picked up her bag and ran out of the room. She quickly phoned Odd and Yumi.

"Milo?" asked Jeremy. "Milo? Milo! Answer!" Milo's cell was lying on the desk a few feet away. Jeremy quickly dialed Ulrich.

"Ulrich?"

"Yeah?" Ulrich asked. He was in P.E.

"A tower's been activated. I think Milo might be in trouble. Can you go to his room, and if he's not there, find him?"

"Sure," said Ulrich. "Jim?"

"What?" asked the teacher.

"I have to go to the infirmary."

"Go, then," said Jim. Ulrich ran off.

"So what is Xana doing?" asked Aelita as she arrived in the factory with Odd and Yumi.

"I'm not sure, but I think Milo's in trouble," said Jeremy. "Ulrich went to find him."

"Oh," said Aelita. She was a lot more worried then she sounded.


	7. Chapter 7

He Who Calls

Chapter 7

"Milo!" exclaimed Ulrich as he walked into his room. Milo's whole body was lit up from electrocution. He was floating a tenth of an inch off the ground. Ulrich ran over and tried to pick him up, but the shockwave stunned him, too. He fell next to Milo, his hand lying on Milo's arm.

"All right," said Jeremy. "I'm sending you. Virtualization!"

The figures dropped onto the Desert Sector.

"Where's the tower?" asked Odd.

"It's somewhere to the northeast. I can't pinpoint it. But there are some tarantulas headed your way. Thankfully William's not with them. He must be at the tower."

The tarantulas had sat down and were firing rapidly. Three of the things, thought Yumi. Milo must be on his way out. I hope Ulrich found him okay.

The Tarantulas were still firing. Odd had already been hit once. Aelita had activated her wings and was soaring overhead. She threw down an energy field, splattering one on the ground.

"Got one," she said.

"Keep up," yelled Odd. He fired three arrows at a tarantula, all missing but one finding the mark and annihilating it. The other tarantula shot Odd two more times, and he vanished.

"They got Odd!" Yumi hollered to Aelita. Then she threw a fan and finished off the last one. They ran to the tower. William jumped off the top of it and landed safely. There were no monsters with him. He charged at Yumi. Once again they ran to the edge of the sector. Yumi smiled. Aelita was in the tower and she was being held at sword point. Perfect. Just as he was about to push her over, she ran forward, impaling herself on his sword and returning to the real world. Aelita's handprint wrote the words: Code Lyoko. And the tower was deactivated.

On the real world, Milo and Ulrich fell to the ground. Ulrich was able to get up, but Milo was still unconscious. Ulrich checked his heart and pulse. He was alive, but just barely. He should be able to recover with some rest. Ulrich phoned Jeremy.

"He's alive. He nearly died, but he's alive. I'll give you the details later."

"All right," said Jeremy. He hung up. Odd had been watching the battle silently. Yumi and Aelita just came up. "Milo's alive. He's the closest anyone's come to death in a while, but he is alive." There was a mutual sigh of relief. "We better go up and see him and Ulrich."

After everyone had checked to see if Milo was okay, they left. Except for Aelita.

"Hi," he said. He was lying down. "What's up?"

"Not much," she lied. "I was just wondering… Would you like to go to the dance with me?" He smiled.

"Sure. I'd love to. As long as you don't mind going with a twelve-year-old." She smiled at that.

"Of course I don't mind. And they said you were a genius."

Later that night, Odd walked up to Aelita's room and knocked on the door. She opened it in her nightclothes, rubbing her eyes.

"Odd?" she asked. "It's the middle of the night. What do you want?"

"Will you go to the dance with me?" The words spilled out of his mouth.

"Oh," said Aelita, looking down. "I'm… already going with someone."

"Who asked you?" Odd said, trying to mimic casual conversation, though he was almost crying.

"No one."

"You just said you were going with someone!"

"I asked him, Odd."

"Who?"

"Milo," said Aelita. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." But Odd was already walking away, no longer holding back tears.


	8. Chapter 8: The Entirely Journal Chapter

He Who Calls

Chapter 8

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_Another Entry_

_Forget it, Odd. If she had _been_ asked out there would have been a chance. But she asked him out. She likes him, not me._

_She didn't know you liked her!_

_She didn't know if Milo liked her._

_You've known her longer._

_And in all that time she's never laughed at one of my jokes. She laughs at Milo's._

_He's only twelve!_

_He's a genius. I have conversations with myself in my diary._

_Journal of Aelita Hopper_

_Mixed Feelings Entry_

_I asked Milo out and he said yes! On the other hand, Odd asked me to go to the dance with him. I wouldn't have gone with him no matter what I knew about whether he liked me. He knows _I _asked _Milo_ out. He's probably heartbroken. I feel sorry for him, but I only like him as a friend. It can't be changed. But hey, I'm going out with Milo! This really is a mixed feeling entry._

_Journal of Milo Salian_

_First Entry_

_Aelita recommended keeping a journal. I put it off for a while, but now I have nothing better to do. I didn't exactly know she liked me. Ulrich said to me a few weeks ago, "I think a certain pink-haired girl is paying a lot of attention to you." I thought he was joking. But maybe emotions are just something everyone can see but me. I've been told I'm less then human. And I sure never thought I'd see the same William Dunbar again. I'm going to have to tell Aelita the truth, at least._

_Journal of Ulrich Stern_

_First Entry_

_Now Milo's keeping a journal too! I think Yumi, Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita already did, so now everyone's got one. Aelita finally asked Milo out. Odd is devastated. I warned him. He had a million chances. He says I see other people's emotions in a scary way. I think he might ask Yumi on the rebound._

_It stinks that Odd is mad at Milo. We've gotten to know each other pretty well. Aelita is his girlfriend and is closest to him, but I think I might be his best friend out of the boys. He and Yumi are nice to each other and hang out sometimes, and they're friends, but not best friends. Oh well. As long as he feels like it Aelita can be his girlfriend and I can be his best friend._

_Odd is _really_ mad. I don't see why. He was trying to get over Aelita. If he asks Yumi out just to show me how it feels, which he might do, as opposed to really liking her, I will be pissed. But _Aelita_ liked_ Milo. _No point getting mad about it._

_Keeping a journal isn't bad. It's nice to write these things down. I wonder what Milo and Odd are thinking about._


	9. Chapter 9

He Who Calls

Chapter 9

"All right," said Ulrich. "You're mad at Milo. Are you going to try to beat him up? If you are, you're insane."

"No," said Odd. "I'm not going to raise a hand against him. It's not his fault Aelita likes him."

"Wow, Odd," said Ulrich, impressed. "That's really mature. Wait a minute, are you going to do everything in your power to wreck their relationship?"

"No, but I'll be silently rooting for them to break up."

"Not as mature."

"I'm kidding," said Odd. "If Aelita's happy, so am I. Well, not really, but I hope she's happy."

"She is. They've been working on a new program to find Franz Hopper, in coalition with Jeremy, of course. They're closer then ever thanks to Milo's innovations, apparently. Xana has embedded himself in tons of places on the internet. They're also working on this thing that lets us virtualize into the internet and destroy Xana's hiding spots. He has Franz Hopper hidden in one of them."

"You sound happy," Odd said, his voice completely emotionless.

"I'm going to ask Yumi out tonight," said Ulrich. "And I think she'll say yes."

"Why?"

"Because Aelita, Milo, and Jeremy have been screaming at us to get together ever since we heard of the dance."

"Jeremy's okay about Milo and Aelita?"

"If you hadn't locked yourself in this room since last night, you would have heard. Jeremy got together with Emily Leduc."

"You mean that girl you hung out with for a while?"

"Yes. She's good with computers but she's not in on Lyoko."

"Great," groaned Odd. "Einstein is dating and I'm not!"

"And I will be soon," said Ulrich. "Free period's over and we haven't studied. Luckily, no test today." They walked to class.

Milo was sitting in math with Aelita. He was very bored. He still hadn't answered any questions wrong on any tests. So he had time to ponder things. Aelita had told him Odd asked her out and she turned him down. He had said he was lucky that he was dating someone so loyal. That seemed to satisfy her, although Milo had only half worked out the whole relationship thing. The bell rang. Odd and Ulrich's free period was over, Jeremy's, Aelita's and Milo's had just started.

"All right," said Milo. "Come to the library and I'll tell you how I know William Dunbar." They nearly ran to the library, where they met Jeremy and Yumi.

"Where's Emily?" asked Aelita.

"Her free period just ended," said Jeremy. "But we did hang out at lunch."

"I'm going to tell how I know William," Milo said. "I'll tell Ulrich and Odd later."

"Spit it out!" said Yumi.

"All right," said Milo. "First thing you have to know is, William and I were adopted."


	10. Chapter 10

He Who Calls

Chapter 10

"Adopted?" asked Aelita. "I knew about you, but not about William."

"Well," said Milo. "It started when William and I were still living on the streets in Portugal at ages 10 and 11. We'd been adopted before and had been educated, but the foster families were never good so we ran away."

"William was Portuguese?" asked Yumi.

"No, he's American. His family moved to Portugal and he ran away there. But that's not the point. When we were ten, William liked this girl named Bella. But she was already with another kid named Eric. William was going to try to break them up for good, but I tipped off Bella. So he tried a few pranks to make them mad at each other, but I told them what was a trick and they stayed together. William got angrier and angrier. Until he killed Eric." Milo's words were hypnotic. No one looked away. No one made a sound. They were alone in the library. "We found Eric's corpse on the roof of a building, with a slash across his face. William was the only one who knew how to handle a blade. He didn't even deny it. He just took Bella as his girl. Against her will. So I learned how to fight and I found William's blade stash. I was good enough to get him away from Bella. She hated him, and she had really loved Eric. And then I swore to her I would never let William kill anyone ever again. A promise I've managed to keep. When the Dunbars adopted William and moved to France I thought I'd seen the last of him. Then I got exchanged to a French school so I can get used to it. My family moves here next year, they just wanted to send me first to check it out. That, and I wanted a first rate education and they knew it."

"So the Salian family adopted you?"

"No," said Milo. "Salian is my name. I remembered it from when I had a family. The Blacks adopted me. So technically I'm Milo Salian-Black, but on my birth certificate it says Milo Salian."

"So my murder wasn't the only crime you stopped," said Aelita. "You stopped Bella's abduction. Where is she now?"

"Adopted," said Milo. "Hopefully living quite happily."

"Why did you want to save her so bad?" asked Jeremy. "You were putting yourself in front of William when you knew he was capable of murder."

"Eric was my best friend, she was his girl, and I didn't like William," said Milo. "He offered me the opportunity to join him. He offered it again the day I stopped him from pushing Aelita over the edge of Lyoko."

"So I was _dating_ a murderer?" asked Yumi, revolted. "I let him anywhere near me with his bloody hands?"

"You didn't know," said Aelita. "None of us did. We'll pass the story on to Odd and Ulrich. You don't have to tell it again if you don't want."

"Thanks," he said, and smiled. "You are the best, know that?" She blushed.

A little while later, Ulrich and Odd had been told William and Milo's story. Ulrich was going to Yumi's room to see if she would go to the dance with him tomorrow. She didn't answer the door, but he could hear sobbing and the door was unlocked, so he went in.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he sat next to her on her bed. She was crying quite hard.

"I was dating a killer, Ulrich," said Yumi.

"Do you want to date a friend?" he asked, looking her in the eyes. She almost smiled.

"That would be nice." They kissed, and then quickly broke apart, blushing. "See you at the dance," she said. He walked out.


	11. Chapter 11

He Who Calls

Chapter 11

"Aelita's birthday is in four days," said Ulrich. "Do we have anything planned?" It was four hours before the dance and everyone except Aelita was meeting in the Factory.

"It is?" asked Milo. "Mine is in two."

"You should've told us!" said Jeremy. "Get out, now we have to plot your party behind your back too."

"Fine," said Milo. "I already know what I'm going to get Aelita. I've got everything I need. Four hours should be enough time to put it together." He walked into the elevator and went back to his room. Classes had been cancelled because of dance preparation, so he had some free time. He started working on his present.

"All right," said Yumi. "What sort of party would they want?"

"I don't know," said Odd. "Bake a cake, get presents, and come up with really good excuses for why they get to skip class those days?"

"We did that for Aelita last year," said Ulrich. "We should get Milo something really good. Aelita started out part of our gang, but he became a functioning Lyoko Warrior by his own choice."

"New bike?" suggested Yumi. "His is about to fall apart, I've seen it."

"He does have a horrible bike, which he hates, but where are we going to get enough money to buy him a new one?"

"Same problem with a new computer, I guess," said Jeremy. "We also have to figure it out soon, because we also have to decide Aelita's party."

"How much money do we actually have?" asked Odd. "I have… Six dollars and twenty-seven cents!"

"I've got forty dollars allowance saved up from when I was nine," said Yumi.

"I have another twenty-five," said Ulrich. "From doing odd jobs. No offence, Odd."

"None taken."

"I have another twenty-five, said Jeremy. "So for both of them we have $96.27. That isn't horrible."

"I say we don't get presents and we throw a huge party!" said Odd.

"I say we don't throw a huge party and get presents," said Ulrich. "Can anyone here even imagine how much Milo would hate it if we threw a huge party for him?" Everyone thought about it. Milo definitely didn't love having huge amounts of people focusing on him. The only reason he had gone to the dance was because Aelita asked him. And even then he might have said no, no matter how much he liked her; except for the fact the attention wouldn't be focused on him.

"Okay, no party for Milo," said Odd. "What about Aelita?"

"The only way she'd be happy is if Milo came," said Ulrich. "He'd come, but he'd hate it. And she'd hate that."

"These two are hard to figure out," said Odd, scratching his head.

"Not if you except the fact they don't like parties."

"That's a hard fact to except. Aelita loves parties!"

"Milo doesn't, and she won't love her party if Milo hates it." They were still arguing about it when Jeremy looked at his watch and said, "Time for the dance!"

Milo looked up. After four hours of work, Aelita's present was complete.


	12. Chapter 12

He Who Calls

Chapter 12

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_New Entry_

Stupid Milo. Aelita's on and on about how great tonight's going to be. I don't have a date. I'm going to the dance on the hope I'll meet someone there. Or Milo will do something stupid and Aelita will dump him. Not likely. Milo's great to her, whether I like to admit it or not. Maybe I should leave him and Aelita well enough alone and try and find someone else

Journal of Milo Salian

New Entry

I think Odd's going to have fun at the dance tonight.

Odd walked into the dance room, wearing a white tuxedo, and was met by a big surprise. Sam was there, in a glittering dress.

"Sam?" asked Odd, stunned. "I thought you moved to America!"

"I did! But someone donated ten thousand dollars to scholarships so I could come here for high school. The guy knew I was trying to get into Kadic and he gave me the money!"

"Who?"

"Someone named Milo Salian. Do you know him?"

"Milo! Give me a minute, I have to go ask him where the hell he got ten thousand dollars." Milo was standing with Aelita near the punch bowl. He was wearing a suit that looked similar to his Lyoko one, but no blades and no top hat. The shade of black was exactly the same, however. Aelita looked radiant. She wore a long pink dress, with white gloves. Apparently they had gone for an old-fashioned motif, but they pulled it off very nicely. "Milo! You flew Sam over from America?"

"Yeah," said Milo. "I felt bad about… you know."

"But where did you get ten thousand dollars?"

"Actually, I had a hundred thousand. I won this big math competition in Portugal. Fifty thousand went to my college fund, forty thousand went into a present for someone, and ten thousand went to getting Sam into Kadic."

"How did you get that generous?" asked Aelita in shock.

"I didn't want it. I grew up on the damn streets, all I really want is a first rate education and three square meals a day. And great friends and a great girlfriend. I have all that, so what do I need anything else for? Odd, go hang out with Sam, I like this song."

"Right," Odd said. "Thanks, Milo! Thanks a lot!" He ran back to where Sam was standing a started dancing with her. Yumi was dancing with Ulrich, Jeremy with Emily, and Milo started dancing with Aelita. He didn't know how life could get much better. And Aelita really was a great dancer.

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_Entry Right After the Dance_

_I can't believe all the bad things I thought about Milo. Sam's back! He only wanted things to turn out well for everyone, but hey, Sam's back!_

One day before Milo's birthday, thought Jeremy the next day. And we still don't have any idea what we're going to do.


	13. Chapter 13

He Who Calls

Chapter 13

"I know exactly what he wants," said Aelita. They were back in the Factory, without Milo and Yumi. It was a Saturday. They were plotting Milo's birthday and Yumi couldn't show up until tomorrow.

"Me too," said Odd.

"What?" asked Jeremy.

"Nothing," they said in unison. "You see," Aelita went on, "Milo is entirely generous and selfless. Not that he'd ever admit it. As long as he has friends, a school, and enough to eat, he doesn't _want_ anything else. He put fifty thousand dollars into giving his friends gifts! Because he didn't want it! Or at least, not as much as he wanted his friends to be happy."

"We have to give him something," said Ulrich.

"Of course we do," said Odd. "We just have to let him know he's appreciated. He wants that more then anything."

"Can we give him anything at all? He loves music."

"Yeah, he does," said Aelita. "He plays turntables, guitar, piano, and recorder. Although he's said himself anyone can play recorder."

"What if we all burned our three favorite songs on to a CD?" asked Odd. "He might like that."

"Good plan," said Aelita. "All in favor?"

"I," said everyone, as a black smoke oozed out. Aelita saw it and yelled, "Run!" but she was the only one who made it out. The rest fainted, their airways cut off. They breathed in all the black smoke, decontaminating the room but over-contaminating them. Aelita walked back in. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and pressed speed dial one. "Milo! Xana's launched an attack!"

"On my way," said Milo. He had been testing Aelita's present. It worked well. "Is anyone else there?" he asked as he ran toward the entrance in the woods.

"No, they all passed out!"

"Go without me. I'll catch up in a minute." He was running in the sewers now.

"All right." She set the timer and scanned herself as he hung up. She dropped onto the Ice Barrier Sector. Milo entered the computer room. He set up the timer again and started the virtualization process. William jumped out of the Digital Sea, just as Milo did arrive on Lyoko.

"Get to the tower!" Milo yelled to Aelita. "Fly!" Her wings expanded and she flew off in the direction of the tower. Then Milo turned to William. "Hi, William."

"Hi, Milo. I see you found yourself a new girl since you stole Bella."

"Bella was never my girl. I just rescued her from you. Just like I did with Aelita. She is my girlfriend, though. I notice you don't have one. How does it feel to never win?"

"I always win, Milo."

"How does this feel: Yumi hates you. I told them the truth. She knows you're a murderer."

"How dare you? Eric stole Bella from right under me, just to spite me! I may have killed him but it wasn't murder!"

"You haven't changed a bit, have you, William?"

"You couldn't keep your promise to Bella, Milo. The girl at my old school I liked, I got expelled for posting love notes to her all over the walls. But I couldn't do that until her boyfriend was dead. And I still haven't been found out! I don't even care if you arrest that polymorphic clone Jeremy made of me."

"You pretended to be their friend. You've killed again and again."

"I intended to kill Ulrich when I was flesh and blood. My clone still might do it. But now I'm virtual, I intend to kill you!"


	14. Chapter 14

He Who Calls

Chapter 14

"You don't have to do this, William," said Milo calmly as their blades clashed. He had lifted up a wrist as William swung at him. "You may work for Xana but you think for yourself. You don't have to kill anyone ever again."

"Commit suicide, Milo," William growled. "Commit suicide and I'll turn back to your side. Kill yourself and I'll never kill anyone again."

"Sorry, William. I have a stronger life wish then that." He grabbed his hat off his head with his other hand and slashed William in half. He became liquid and flowed back into the Digital Sea. Then Milo ran in the direction he had seen Aelita run.

Aelita was dodging various blasts from a Creeper. It had come with two Tarantulas but she had managed to finish them off. Then Milo showed up, shortly after his hat, which finished off the Creeper.

"We should get to the tower now," he said. He was shaken from his encounter with William.

"Right," she said, and walked into the tower. She performed the usual ceremony, and the others on Earth woke up.

Milo walked back to his room with various pats on the back and comments on a good job. He lay on his bed. It was late, eleven at least, and he was tired.

Journal of Milo Salian 

_Self-Doubt_

_They say I'm selfless. I say I'm selfish. I keep necessary things for me and give away fluff. William knows. The only reason I protected Bella was my own rage about Eric's death. I like being thought of as a hero. But my thoughts aren't as heroic as my actions. My birthday is tomorrow. And if they're throwing me a huge party, I will puke like no one ever has before. But they know me well enough not to._

**William Dunbar**

**Data Entry #4267**

**Milo is still a little bastard. He made it impossible for me to return to the real world ever again. He's probably had the clone arrested by now, meaning I'm stuck on Lyoko for good. I did a super-search on Bella and found her. She's living in Costa Rica with a foster family she loves. I hate it when everyone except me gets their happy ending. I think Milo's on to the fact I'm not human anymore. I have Xana in me. I've dubbed my species 'Xanadore,' plural 'Xanadores.' Even without my clone arrested, I could never last on the real world for more then three days. I lied to Milo. I want him dead, not on my side.**

**I'll get Bella. She shouldn't have asked Milo to 'save her.' I never actually hurt her. Grabbed her, carried her, but never hurt her. Threatened to but never did. She was a crybaby. I'm going to make a request to Lord Xana that he kill her. Or let me do it for him.**

**Milo is a much more pressing target. He lives near the scanners, and he's got his little team of Lyoko Warriors. The only way I can really kill him is throw him in the Digital Sea. For me, the Scyphozoa had me. I was already on Xana's side. If not, he would have let me explode in the sea. That's what I'm going to do to Milo. The Scyphozoa will never get a crack at him.**

**Yumi. I loved her for a while. Thanks to Milo she thinks I'm a murderer. I may have killed but it wasn't murder. I'll make sure the Scyphozoa gets her. She will be a Xanadore.**

**Ulrich dies. For the same reason Eric and Samuel died. Dating girls I like. Bella, Erika, and Yumi. Eric and Samuel down. Ulrich left to go.**

**Odd can become a Xanadore, but I won't go to trouble to make sure the Scyphozoa gets him. If I have to get rid of him I will.**

**Aelita dies, because she's dating Milo. Enough said.**

**End Entry**


	15. Chapter 15

He Who Calls

Chapter 15

Milo woke up and stared at the ceiling. It's my birthday, he thought. Oh hell. Why did I wake up? Oh yeah. No choice. He stood up and changed from the shorts and t-shirt he slept in to his normal clothes. The clock said eleven twenty. He'd done a good job sleeping in. Milo breathed deeply, and walked out the door.

Aelita was having similar problems waking up. She had burned her three songs on to the CD, and she knew Milo would think that was enough, but she didn't think so. And then she saw the situation with perfect clarity. She was already in her clothes for the day, so she ran out the door. Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich joined her on the way. Yumi was coming later. Jeremy was holding the CD.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" asked Odd as they ran. "Milo hates getting up before noon when he stays up until four in the morning."

"How did you know he stayed up until four in the morning?" asked Aelita.

"I was doing Milo Get The Hell To Sleep Patrol—"

"What's that?"

"Jeremy, Ulrich, and I take turns getting up at four in the morning and making sure Milo's asleep," Odd explained. "He doesn't sleep enough. If he isn't asleep whoever's on patrol pokes their head in and yells 'Milo, Get The Hell To Sleep!' If he seems reluctant, they stay and bug him until he goes to sleep. We have a similar program for Jeremy. So anyway, I found Milo sitting at the computer trying to find Franz Hopper, so I yelled 'Milo, Get The Hell To Sleep!' I also saw the present he was working on for someone. It's awesome."

"Who's it for?" asked Aelita.

"Sworn to secrecy, sorry," said Odd.

"For me, then. I'm the only one whose birthday is anytime soon," said Aelita. "Come on, what is it?"

"You'll find out in two days," said Odd, and then slapped his hand to his forehead. Aelita laughed.

"Milo taught me how to do that," she said, still chuckling. "And I fell for it the same way you did." They were standing outside Milo's room. Yumi walked up suddenly.

"Hey, guys," she said. "What's up?"

"I just learned the heavily guarded secret of Milo Get The Hell To Sleep Patrol," said Aelita.

"What's that?" asked Yumi.

"I'll explain later." That was when Milo opened the door and walked out.

"Surprise!" they all said in unison. "We made you this," Jeremy continued as he handed Milo the disc. "All our top three favorite songs are on it. We hope you like it!"

"Thanks, guys," said Milo. "I'll listen to it really soon! This is really cool." Aelita stepped forward, and without saying a word kissed him on the lips. He was a little taller then she was, so she had to bend forward a little. It seemed right. Neither of them had any experience, so they couldn't say if the other kissed well. All they knew was that it seemed right. After a second they broke apart. Odd whistled and Jeremy, Ulrich, and Yumi clapped.

"You have no idea how long we've been waiting for you to do that," said Yumi.

Aelita was a little shaken, but smiled.

"I'm guessing as long as I've wanted to."


	16. Chapter 16

He Who Calls

Chapter 16

_Journal of Milo Salian_

_First Kiss_

_Wow. I did not see that coming. Bet anyone on Earth or Lyoko forty bucks everyone else did._

_Journal of Aelita Stones_

_First Kiss_

_I did it. Refreshing to have finally ended the school-wide speculation about whether I really like Milo or Jeremy. Milo wouldn't let me into his room. He knew I knew the present was in there and he wanted it to be a surprise. I hope Milo enjoyed his birthday._

_Journal of Tamiya Diop_

_News For The Hot Column_

_Milly is going to love this. I saw Sissi Delmas's secret crush, Milo Salian, kissing Aelita Stones outside his room. I can either put this in the news… Or Salian, Stones, and Delmas can pay to stop me. Just like the other morons who will do anything to keep their love lives out of the paper. Salian seems like a good guy. He won't seem like one if I spin it like he was already dating Sissi when he started dating Aelita._

Milo picked up the weird note he found outside his door as he walked back from lunch. It was roughly one p.m. He read it. 'Be at the gym by 1:05 or pay.' It was written in taped together letters from magazines. He ran to the gym. As he threw open the door he saw Sissi, Aelita, and that reporter girl.

"Hi, Milo," said the girl. Milo remembered her name now. Tamiya. "You might be interested to know," she went on. "That the school newspaper has a hot column. About couples."

"So? Aelita and I are dating. Everyone's known it for a month. No big news."

"Yes. I have a photo of you kissing."

"What?" Milo was angry now. "What, is that what you do? Sneak around and photograph people kissing?"

"I also have a photo," she said as though she hadn't spoken. "Of Sissi about to knock on your door in a dress the night of the dance, and a photo of Aelita hugging Jeremy. Imagine how it might look if I published these things together!" Milo understood at once. So did Aelita and Sissi.

"That is completely out of context!" said Milo. He was furious now. "Sissi has a crush on me, I know that, but I never responded!"

"And Milo wasn't even at Kadic when you took that photo!" said Aelita.

"Milo's a good guy!" said Sissi angrily. "I might be annoyed that he's dating Little Miss Perfect but he isn't a cheater!"

"Neither is Aelita!" Milo was so mad he wanted to kill the little reporter. "Are you saying you're going to blackmail us with those photos?"

"Blackmail is a harsh word," said Tamiya. "But I am going to make you pay me to keep them out of the paper, yes."

"You're disgusting," said Milo bitterly. "What do you want?"

"I want you to break up with Aelita," said Tamiya.

"What for?" asked Aelita. "Do you just enjoy causing others pain?"

"No," said Tamiya calmly. "He also has to go on a date with Milly. She's head over heels and I swore I'd get her a date. Of course, there is an alternative."

"What?" asked Sissi. "I tell my father and he gets you arrested?"

"No," said Tamiya, still calm. "Four hundred dollars. Each. Every month. If you tell, I give the pictures to Milly and she publishes them anyway."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Aelita, nearly crying with anguish and rage. "We haven't done you any harm!"

"The public needs to know my truth," said Tamiya. "Or I at least need some extra money."


	17. Chapter 17: Another Journal Chapter

He Who Calls

Chapter 17

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_Sick Blackmail, Our Turn_

_Milo and Aelita are depressed on the day before Aelita's birthday. I got her old, vinyl records of really great bands, the kind that are really good for scratching. Xana's been quiet lately. But back to the depression. They told the others and me why. That sick kid Tamiya got a bunch of photos of Sissi trying to ask Milo to the dance, (she's going to make it sound like she's meeting him to go with her,) Aelita hugging Jeremy, (she's going to make it sound like Aelita and Milo were already dating at the time,) and last but not least the picture of Aelita and Milo kissing on his birthday. She's demanding that either Milo breaks up with Aelita and dates Milly, or Sissi, Milo, and Aelita pay her four hundred dollars each. Every month._

_Milo has helped us all out to no end. He urged Jeremy, Yumi, Emily, and Ulrich to start dating, succeeding well. He got Sam back for me, spending ten thousand dollars in the process. And he's made Aelita the happiest anyone's ever seen her. Now a twisted news reporter is blackmailing him and Aelita, ruining her birthday and screwing Milo's life. Aelita is staying faithful to him completely, but she's miserable and that makes him miserable. A lot of his life is centered on keeping everyone else well. Because of that his guard was down, and his life was attacked. He doesn't care about the money. He cares because he's been faithful to Aelita and tried to keep her happy, and now she's miserable, and he's on the verge of looking like a cheater. So is she, and I _think_ he cares more about her reputation then his._

_I won't let it happen this way. Milo is a great friend, and he's been great to Aelita, and it's our turn to help him. Yumi, Ulrich, Sam, Emily, Jeremy, and I are all going to stop Tamiya. The only problem is, we have no idea how to do that. Aelita and Milo can't be in on it. If Tamiya is arrested the photos will get published. Aelita and Milo wouldn't even let us try._

_So we have to destroy the photos by Aelita's birthday. After that the first payment is due, and Aelita doesn't have four hundred dollars. If we can't do it by her birthday, Milo and Aelita will have to break up or let the photos get published. Whichever one they choose is an unacceptable outcome._

_Journal of Ulrich Stern_

_Odd and His Plan_

_Odd is determined to get Milo and Aelita out of this. But he also admits to having no clue. I have a plan, though. All we have to do is find out something about Tamiya. Then we can give it to Milly unless she gets rid of all the copies of the photos. Milly would do it. They're still angry at each other from that time they tried to interview Jeremy. Tamiya is doing this whole thing to make it up to her by getting her a date with Milo._

_Journal of Jeremy Belpois_

_What's Tamiya Hiding?_

_Ulrich's plan is good. But what is Tamiya hiding? Everyone has secrets. What are hers?_


	18. Chapter 18: The Really Long Chapter

He Who Calls

Chapter 18

"All right," Odd said to Jeremy, Emily, Ulrich, Yumi, and Sam. It was four, on the day before Aelita's fourteenth birthday. They were standing outside Tamiya's room. She was in P.E. until four thirty. "We have thirty minutes to get in, find out Tamiya's secret, get proof, and get out. We have to do this without being discovered and we have to make it look like it was never done. Go!" He kicked the door. It didn't open. Sam walked up and turned the doorknob. It opened. "Um, good job Sam," said Odd, blushing.

"It's what I'm here for," she said. They went in.

"All right," said Ulrich. "Check everywhere." After five minutes of searching Yumi stood up from looking in a drawer in the desk.

"Jackpot," she said triumphantly. "I found her journal!"

"Come on! We'll go back to my room and find something there!" said Odd. They put the room back together and ran to Odd and Ulrich's shared one.

"All right," said Yumi. "This is amazing!" she muttered as she flipped through it.

"What?"

"Milo and Aelita are only her latest victims. She was already blackmailing Nicolas and Herb, half the soccer team, every other reporter on the paper besides Milly, and Jim!" exclaimed Yumi. "Here we go. This is right after she finished threatening Milo and Aelita: '_Dear Diary, Today Salian and Stones agreed to pay up. I nearly have enough money to buy the best present in the world for William Dunbar. He's so handsome and mysterious. I hope he likes whatever I get him when I have enough money.' _This is perfect! We threaten to tell William2—"

"Why do you call him William2?" asked Sam.

"Because he's… so different from last year!" said Yumi, as she couldn't reveal he was a clone. "So we threaten to tell William2 that she likes him, or she can destroy the photos."

"But if William2 gets involved," said Emily. "And what Milo says is true, he might kill someone."

"We can't let him know," said Ulrich firmly. "And I don't think Milo has ever lied about anything important."

"All right. We have five minutes until Tamiya gets out of class. It should take that long to get to her room. Let's go!" said Emily. They ran out of the room at top speed.

"Aelita," said Milo, as he and Aelita walked out of class. "The payment is due tomorrow. What are we going to choose?"

"Get Tamiya?" said Aelita hopefully. "And tell about how the photos are lies and they're going to try to publish them?"

"We looked at that possibility," said Milo. "Freedom of the press combined with the fact," at this point Aelita started chanting the words along with him in the same depressed monotone, "that we're minors and don't have much slander protection makes it too great a risk that the photos will get published anyway."

"I don't know," said Aelita. "I just really hate this."

"I do too," said Milo. "I do too."

Ulrich, Sam, Odd, Yumi, Jeremy, and Emily were waiting outside Tamiya's door when she showed up.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"For you to stop blackmailing people," said Odd. "Or we might tell William something about you."

"You snuck into my room and read my journal?" she asked, furious. "That's outrageous! That's horrible!" Ulrich had had enough. He walked up, grabbed her by the shoulders, shook her and yelled:

"IT'S THE SAME DAMN THING YOU DO EVERY DAY!"

"No," said Tamiya. "It's entirely different."

"Name three ways," said Ulrich, seething.

"Well… Um…"

"Exactly," he said. Then he dropped her and she hit the floor.

"So what do I have to do? Pay you?" she asked.

"No, that's the way you think. We say all you have to do is destroy those all the copies of those photos and stop blackmailing people. Also, you have to return all the money you blackmailed out of people and explain to people whose relationships you screwed exactly why their boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with them," said Odd. "And if you want us to keep quiet about this to the teachers, you can quit the paper."

"All right. I'll do everything you said. You can watch me destroy the photos," said Tamiya. She opened a drawer that no one had seen in her desk. They looked in. It was full of blackmail picture. She took out the ones featuring Milo, Aelita, and Sissi and tore them up. "I never make copies," she said. "I wouldn't want anyone to find them." Odd grabbed all the photos out of the drawer and tore them up. Then he opened the rest of the drawers. One of them was full of cash.

"This all blackmail money?" he asked. She nodded almost imperceptibly. "Is this all of it?" She nodded again. "Keep in mind, if we find out you're lying we tell William. No appeal. No go around and return this stuff." She took the drawer out of the desk and carried it out of the room. "We did it!" said Odd. "Now we go tell Milo and Aelita."


	19. Chapter 19

He Who Calls

Chapter 19

Milo and Aelita were sitting in her room, since her present was still a surprise and they still had to discuss their choice. She was sitting on the bed; he was sitting on the desk. Odd, Sam, Jeremy, Emily, Ulrich, and Yumi barged in suddenly.

"We destroyed the photos!" said Odd.

"Tamiya can't blackmail anyone anymore!" said Ulrich.

"And she has to return all the money!" said Sam.

"What?" asked Milo. "Maybe you better tell us the story from the beginning."

"All right," said Odd. "We couldn't stand to see you blackmailed, so we made a plan…"

William stood on the ledge he had stood on when the Scyphozoa had just possessed him. He was in Carthage, in the Core Chamber, standing on that same blue platform. Lord Xana had said that he shouldn't bother attacking the Core. Jeremy had beefed up its shields by a few thousand notches. It would take months for all the monsters Lord Xana could make in a year to destroy the Core. William did have his own Black Manta with him, plus his standard guard of two Tarantulas. But he wanted more. He wanted another Xanadore, someone who could think like he could. He wanted Yumi Ishiyama by his side again. He felt that horrible pounding again. It was the horrible pain that felt like someone was driving a sword in one ear, through his brain, and out the other. Lord Xana had installed that pain in him. Whenever he didn't obey an order, whenever Lord Xana had any proof at all he wasn't being completely subservient, he felt that horrible pain. His thoughts were monitored, for God's sake. He had to sincerely want the death of the Lyoko Warriors or he would be destroyed from the inside. Not that he didn't want those goody-two-shoes freaks dead anyway.

"Thanks, guys," said Milo. "You saved us."

"Consider it a late and early birthday present respectively," said Jeremy.

"Wow," said Aelita. "We're free."

"And it's only 5:00," said Odd, checking his watch. "What are we going to do the rest of the day?" Milo's eyes were wide and he was staring at Aelita's computer.

"Run!" he said.

"No thanks," said Odd. "I know you're a track star, but—"

"I mean run!" said Milo. He pointed at Aelita's computer screen. It had the Eye of Xana on it, and there was black smoke pouring out of the screen.

"Oh," said Odd. Then he ran. Sam and Emily looked at it, obviously scared.

"What is that?" asked Emily.

"No time to explain! We have to get to the Factory! Come on!" said Jeremy. They both got up and ran out the door with him. The shadows caught Ulrich by the legs on the way out.

"Guys!" he yelled. Mio and Yumi quickly grabbed his arms and tried to pull him out. The shadows broke, reforming as a copy of Ulrich. "Polymorphic specter," Ulrich breathed.

"We have to go!"

"I'll hold it off!" said Yumi.

"Me too!" said Odd. "Milo, Ulrich, Aelita, get the tower!" He then delivered a shattering kick to the clone. "Go!" he yelled again.


	20. Chapter 20

He Who Calls

Chapter 20

"All right," said Jeremy. They were in the Factory. Odd and Yumi were still fighting off the Polymorphic Ulrich. Real Ulrich, Milo, and Aelita had just gone down to the scanners. Sam and Emily were standing on either side of Jeremy, trembling. "Scanner, Aelita, Ulrich, Milo. Transfer, Aelita, Ulrich, Milo. Virtualization." Three figures dropped on to Carthage, commonly known as Sector 5.

"Oh, great," said Ulrich. "Where's the tower this time?"

"The room right outside the Core Chamber," said Jeremy. "Get there quick. William is waiting for you, and there's no Digital Sea here."

"That sounds ominous," said Milo as they were running. "What will William do if he can't push us into the Digital Sea?"

"I'm guessing set the Scyphozoa on you, but I'm not sure. As far as I know he has reasons for preferring all of you dead."

"That makes me feel so much better," said Milo. He saw the tower coming up now. William stood in front of it with his usual guards, a Black Manta and two Tarantulas. "Hi, William. What are you up too?" he said, in the most cheerful and annoying voice he could muster.

"You die this time," said William. "All of you. The Specter will kill Odd and Yumi, and I will devirtualize you. You won't be able to return to Lyoko for twenty-four hours. And the Specter will kill you too."

"Not this time, William," said Ulrich, pulling out his swords. "And not ever." William threw his humongous sword at Ulrich easily, devirtualizing him.

"One down," he said casually, as his sword flew back to his hand. "One as good as dead." He charged at Milo and swung. Milo brought his wrist up, and they slashed back and forth, never hitting. And then William pushed Milo into the tower, and followed him in. Aelita ran forward and tried to enter the tower, finding that she couldn't.

"I hope Milo can handle this," she muttered. Then to Jeremy she said, "William and Milo are in the tower, and I've been sealed out."

"I know," said Jeremy. "I'm working on the force field, but there's nothing I can do to help Milo."

Milo and William were rising up to the top floor of the tower. The panel was there, waiting for Aelita to palm it. William shoved Milo to the edge of the platform. Milo reached out, putting his one hand on William and the other on the panel. Time seemed to slow down as the words MILO: CODE SPLIT appeared on the screen. Energy flowed through his arm. A blue and white suited figure burst out of the black and red suited William. The original William, before the Scyphozoa, was back. But the evil William stayed too. Milo grabbed harder then ever, and they fell off the platform, into the Abyss. The good William sadly palmed the panel, prompting the words WILLIAM: CODE LYOKO.

"Tower deactivated," he said, and the data around him flowed down to the bottom. The white energy appeared. And the good William cried and kneeled down.

Aelita suddenly fell through the tower wall. She promptly floated up and found him crying.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Where's Milo, and why are you in your old suit?"

"Milo split William into two halves," said William. "I'm the good half. Milo and the evil half went over the edge. And I deactivated the tower."

"Then what happens to Milo and the other half of you over the edge?" asked Aelita. "This isn't a way tower."

"I'm not sure," said William. "But I don't think they're coming back."


	21. Chapter 21

He Who Calls

Chapter 21

"What do you mean? They're coming back!" said Aelita. "Jeremy? You hearing all this?"

"Yes," said Jeremy.

"They're coming back, aren't they?"

"I don't know," said Jeremy. "I'm checking every inch of Lyoko for them. Milo's Code Split stunt was good, but Good and Bad William will recombine in twenty hours. No matter where they are on Lyoko. If Bad William no longer exists, Good William will turn to dust in twenty hours."

"Please tell me you found Milo already," said Aelita.

"I think I did," said Jeremy.

"Where?" asked Aelita.

"They're both between the first shield of the Core of Lyoko and the second," said Jeremy. "Milo can still talk to me. He says he's going to impale himself on William's sword so he can get out. He's sliding on to it and… I think he's back on Earth!"

"But what do we do with Good William?"

"Leave him. If he doesn't recombine he'll die."

"All right," said Aelita. She turned to Good William. "I have to go. Milo got safely back to Earth, and Bad William will get pulled back into you in twenty hours. I'll see you later." She vanished before he could protest. So he threw himself over the edge. He had decided he was going to kill his other side and die in the process.

Aelita stepped out of the scanner on Earth to find Milo lying comatose in the other one.

"Milo!" She quickly checked his life signs, sighed with relief, and ran up to Jeremy. "Milo is dying!"

"So are Odd and Yumi!" said Jeremy. "Only one option. Return to the past now!"

Aelita went through a moment of disconcertion, then realized what had happened.

"When are we?" she asked, after checking that only the Lyoko Warriors were in the room. "Where are Sam and Emily?" They were back in her dorm room.

"They just left after telling you about foiling the blackmail attempt," said Jeremy with a grin. "Milo, are you okay?"

"Just scared," said Milo. "And tired. Is it really only five-thirty?" He checked his watch. "It is. But hold on… It's tomorrow! It's Aelita's birthday!"

"What?" said Ulrich.

"Well," said Jeremy. "Odd, Yumi, and Milo all nearly died. I guess we had to eat a day to replenish your life forces."

"Well, we have to go down to my room," said Milo. "I think Aelita's going to like her present."

"Come on already! What is it?" asked Aelita.

"You'll see in my room," said Milo. They all ran down to Milo's room, Aelita holding his hand the whole way. "Here it is," said Milo. And he opened the door. It was a turntable, sound-effect, and keyboard combo with various sets for CDs and vinyl. "I knew you liked turntables, so I made this."

"Oh, wow," said Aelita. She went over and saw that all her favorite CDs and records were in the decks.

"The records are from me," said Odd. "The CDs from Milo. Happy birthday, Aelita!" Then they all repeated it in unison. Aelita smiled and sat on Milo's bed.

"Best birthday ever."


	22. Chapter 22: Maybe Hope

He Who Calls

Chapter 22

_Journal of Jeremy Belpois_

_Tired_

_It's been two weeks since Aelita's birthday. Everyone was in high spirits then. But with six Xana attacks in two weeks, we're tired. Ulrich keeps on walking in to walls. Odd never jokes around, and I think he might be having trouble with Sam. Nobody else is having any trouble with their relationships, mainly because my troubles aren't visible to Emily (I haven't made any advances on anything about Lyoko in weeks) and Aelita and Yumi know Ulrich and Milo are going through the same things they are. So I feel especially sorry for Odd. And Yumi gets furious over nothing. Aelita's grades are plummeting from As to Cs and she even got one D. And I feel really sorry for Milo. He's the youngest of us all and he collapsed in class twice the first week after Aelita's birthday, and the only way he avoided repeating it the second week was sleeping thirty-six straight hours on the weekend. He then devoted eight hours to hanging out with everyone and slept for the last four. People are looking at us closer then ever. We're a few inches away from getting discovered and we can't keep this up much longer._

**William Dunbar**

**Data Entry # 4900**

**The Lyoko Warriors are exhausted. Lord Xana is pleased. The side of me they call Good William failed to kill me, but Milo now routinely tries to split me. Lord Xana is not pleased about that.**

Aelita looked at her latest chemistry pop quiz. C-. Another bad grade to add to her collection. If she had parents who cared about her grades, they would be seriously disappointed. How Milo was keeping up that hundred-point average, she would never know. Then again, he had to sleep forty hours out of forty-eight on the weekends to stay sane. He had apologized a lot for that. It wasn't necessary. She knew that they all had different ways of letting battle fatigue get to them. Milo went unconscious. She went stupid. She was sitting in her room. Class had just let out for the day. Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," she said. Yumi walked in and sat down next to her. "Hi, Yumi," said Aelita. "What's up?"

"I'm still yelling at everyone over the stupidest things. I can tell Ulrich understands, but I still feel bad."

"I was just thinking about that. Everyone knowing about how the others have ways of letting this get to them."

"You seem fine."

"Look," Aelita said, showing the paper. "My fourth C- in two weeks. I also have two Cs, a C+, and two Ds. Normally I'm a straight A student."

"Oh," said Yumi. "Is Milo out of the infirmary yet?" Milo's fainting had been pinned down to lack of nutrition and sleep, so after classes each day he had to report to the infirmary where they made him eat a large dinner and sleep for half an hour.

"No, not yet. He runs around the track at least ten laps every day. He says if he doesn't the huge portions are going to make him incapable of movement," she allowed herself to laugh. Yumi laughed too. "I almost always go out and run with him, and we talk. It's actually nice." She smiled.

"It sounds like it. Maybe Ulrich and I should try it," Yumi said. Aelita looked visibly relieved that she had someone to talk to. "Do you know where Odd has been?"

"He has been withdrawn. And I hear he goes in his room and cries a lot. Sam's about to dump him."

"Just when I thought there was hope for all of us."

"Milo had an idea. He says there's hope. But only if we let Sam in to the group."


	23. Chapter 23

He Who Calls

Chapter 23

"Has Milo gone nuts?" asked Yumi. "Seven people in the group?"

"Think about it," said Aelita. "Sam is energetic and brave, we're all dying form exhaustion, and letting her know about Xana has the bonus of saving Odd from a painful and humiliating break up."

"I'll discuss this with the others later. Has Jeremy made any advances on finding Xana's internet hidey-holes yet?"

"No," said Aelita. "He's stuck. He has to devote all his energy to school and friends, which is why he doesn't appear to be going insane like the rest of us." Someone knocked on the door. "Come in!" Aelita said.

"Hey," Milo said as he walked in. "I just got released! I don't have to go to the infirmary every day anymore!"

"That's great!" said Aelita. "You still going to be running every day?"

"Yeah, it does help me stay awake," said Milo. "Hi, Yumi. What's new?"

"Nothing," said Yumi. "Except your idea to make Sam part of the group."

"It seems to be a good idea. We don't have to virtualize her until we're sure."

"That didn't exactly work on you," said Aelita. "If you think about it for a while it's easy to solve the paradox about why our memories remain unchanged and no one else's do."

"We're paralyzed, technologically speaking," said Milo. "No one knows how the hell I did that Code Split thing with William."

"I have a theory," said Aelita. "I'm guessing it works for people who only have either a good side or a bad side. You don't have a bad side as far as anyone can tell. So by flooding people with tons of extra energy either way, you have the power to split them."

"I have a bad side!" protested Milo.

"Name three bad things you've ever done," said Aelita and Yumi in unison, laughing. Milo constantly challenged people to name three things, and it was funny to see it turned against him.

"Pissing Jeremy off the first day I got here, stealing you out from under Odd's nose, praying for people I don't like to die," said Milo.

"Pissing Jeremy off was a great achievement, I wanted to be stolen, and praying for William the Killer to die is not a sin," said Aelita.

"I don't believe in sin. I'm not religious. _You're_ not religious."

"When I said 'sin' I was referring to any bad deed, not one in the eyes of God," said Aelita. "And incidentally, you're absolutely right, I don't believe in God."

"There's your sin. I'm a heretic. I think God was cruel to make mankind choose between life and knowledge. A million religious people would hate me for that," said Milo triumphantly.

"That's only a sin in the eyes of God," said Yumi. "Since you don't believe in him it's not a sin."

"Oh, just forget it," said Milo, disgusted with the argument. "Aelita, still want to run with me? Yumi, you and Ulrich can come too."

"Yeah, okay," said Yumi. She got up and went to get Ulrich.

"Of course I'm coming," said Aelita. "I know the only reason you go is so I'll come with you." She was joking, and it was funny.

"Yeah, it is," said Milo. Aelita couldn't tell whether he was joking or not.


	24. Chapter 24: He Can't Break Me

He Who Calls

Chapter 24

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_Resolve_

_She's going to dump me soon. I can tell. Milo says he's going to convince the others to let her into the group so she'll know why I've been like this. I say let her dump me. I'm not important anymore. On Lyoko I always get devirtualized before I can help. I'm two inches away from being emo and if it weren't for Milo, Ulrich, and all the other Lyoko Warriors I would be by now. I wish I hadn't followed Kiwi into the scanner that day. I would have done a return to the past, but everyone would remember, and Milo would be sent back to Portugal with all his memories intact._

_And, whatever sort of god there might be help me, I still don't know what I'm going to do. I love Sam, but I'm a wreck. An introvert. An almost-emo. Just two weeks ago I was able to find enough enthusiasm to rally the troops against Tamiya. I was able to laugh and joke and Sam was happy._

_Poor Odd is odd. That's what they're whispering. Everyone's talking behind my back. Ulrich got all the Lyoko group into a chorus and they sang the insults back at the people. That was the only time I laughed in the past two weeks._

_I've come to a conclusion. I'm going to be happy and joking again. Xana can attack all he wants. He can't break me._

_Journal of Aelita Hopper_

_Resolve_

_I'm an idiot. I'm going to bring my average down to D if I keep this up. And I don't even care much anymore. I'm so stupid that I can't even perceive that being stupid is a bad thing. Everyone says _Odd_ is a step away from going emo. Maybe we all are. Maybe we're going to end up a gang of idiots and introverts who cut themselves because they couldn't deal with the pressure. Maybe that's what I deserve for being such a damn idiot. Idiotic Aelita, they say behind my back. But the others aren't dumb._

_No. I can't go down that path. We're all cracking under stress, but in different ways. Jeremy's determination reflects it, Odd's enthusiasm reflects it, Milo's stamina reflects it, Yumi's temper reflects it, Ulrich's concentration reflects it, and my intelligence reflects it._

_No more._

_I've come to a conclusion. I'm going to be clever again. Xana can attack all he wants. He can't break me._

_Journal of Yumi Ishiyama_

_Resolve_

_I'm going to drive everyone off. They all hate that I'm yelling at them. They all want me to go jump in a lake with William. At least they couldn't hear me down there. The worst part is _I _want myself to go jump in a lake. I think I'm horrible. Ulrich comforts me. He tells me that they all still care about me. I think it's sweet that he says it, but I know I'm being terrible to everyone. Last week I erupted at Milo because he bumped into me in a hallway. I screamed things at him. And when I was done and seething, with a crowd looking at us, he just said, 'Sorry, Yumi, it won't happen again.' After I had just yelled curse words at him for thirty seconds straight. I don't know where he gets that patience._

_I won't yell at an innocent person again. I'm better then that. They call me the Hag, now._

_I've come to a conclusion. I'm going to be kind again. Xana can attack all he wants. He can't break me._

_Journal of Jeremy Belpois_

_Resolve_

_No one thinks there's anything wrong with me. But Xana nearly broke my determination. Never again will that happen._

_I've come to a conclusion. I will hunt Xana like never before. He can attack all he wants. He can't break me._

_Journal of Ulrich Stern_

_Resolve_

_I can't play soccer. I can't fight. I can barely walk. The Blind Ulrich, they say. I'm sick of being a loser. Yumi shouldn't have to date someone like me. I hope if she dumps me she can find someone else. I hope she does dump me. I hope I can find a way to not be such a whatever it is I am. I want to help the others, but no one has really been able to do that except Milo._

_Milo. He's the only thing, as far as I know, that's keeping Yumi, Odd, Aelita, and me from being emo. I owe it to him to make a fight out of this with Xana._

_I've come to a conclusion. I'm going to be coordinated and concentrated again. Xana can attack all he wants. He can't break me._

_Journal of Milo Salian_

_Resolve_

_Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita are all close to being emo and I don't know how much longer I can help them. They don't seem to remember that _I'm _the one that cracked worst. I'm the one who couldn't take any of it and just had to collapse. I'm the one who has to sleep forty hours on weekends. I'm the jerk playing at being a good guy. Aelita always says I'm selfless and brave. She's keeping me from giving up. From just going to sleep forever. I want to. I really, really want to. They're calling me Break-Down Milo. Insane Salian. Other horrible things I haven't even heard. I'm sick of it and sick of Xana. It's his fault everyone is shattering. Everyone is miserable. And I'm near dead from exhaustion. Because I've been staying up late. I have to find Aelita's father. By my estimate I should be done by Christmas. And Christmas is in one week. I've also been working on Mini-Scans, small portable scanners that hook up to each other and a mainframe. I've made and tested one. It works. You have to sit in the Mini-Scan, but it works. With these, I can take everyone on the vacation they need and give Aelita her father back._

_I've come to a conclusion. I'll stay awake and I'll keep everything together. Xana can attack all he wants. He can't break me._

**William Dunbar**

**Last Data Entry**

**I know Xana can read this but I don't care. I found how he survived the first reboot of the supercomputer. By hiding in me. All throughout my life Xana has made me do things. He made me kill Eric and Samuel and he made me be his servant. He made me hate my friends and do horrible things in his name. But I found out. And I chased Xana out of me. He's going to kill me soon. I can never leave Lyoko. But I can send this, along with all my notes on Xanadores, Xana, and everything else I know to Milo Salian, the only person I know who could understand even me. I have also attached to him a note with my personal feelings. I will soon be dead. I will only ever be remembered as a murderer on the streets of Portugal and in a high school. It is no more then I deserve for letting Xana in me.**

**Milo and his friends, the friends I betrayed, can defeat Xana. And in their minds, maybe I shall be remembered as the double agent who turned spy against Xana.**

**I've come to a conclusion. I'll send this to Milo, and Xana will kill me. Xana can do with me what he likes. But there is one thing he cannot do. He can't break me.**


	25. Chapter 25

He Who Calls

Chapter 25

"You've got mail!" said the annoying voice on Milo's computer as he walked back into his room. Milo sighed, and opened it. He read William's last entry, then sent the notes on Xana to Jeremy and kept a copy for him. He would go over those later. He opened William's note to him. It read, _'Milo. By the time you read this I'll probably be dead. I don't care anymore. It's one thing to be possessed by Xana. It's another to let him into you. What I do want to do is apologize. For killing Eric, for kidnapping Bella, for killing Samuel, and for trying to kill you. I was under Xana's influence. But I'm not anymore. You've heard me say before that when you're threatened or pressured, you're not acting as yourself. I know how wrong that is. You always have the power to choose. I pretended I didn't. That's what I'm guilty of. Do well. Go far. William.' _

Milo closed the file. He checked William's entries into his electronic journal. And he found one thing he didn't expect. Two pictures. At the very back. One of William with the Lyoko Warriors on the real world, laughing in front of the school. And one of him and Milo in Portugal, toasting slices of pizza they had stolen with Bella and Eric. Before Bella and Eric were together, before William had gone bad. Back when there were no enemies. Only people standing between the four friends and their next meal. Milo shut that file and turned off his computer. I'll do what you wanted, William, thought Milo. I'll go far. I'll stop Xana. And when the world knows about Xana and how we stopped him, I'll tell your tragic story, and how in the end you sent us the way to stop him. Jeremy had sent something back. A question. 'Where did you get these files?' Milo sent back, 'William. He's dead for sending them.' He attached William's last entry.

William was dead. Xana was going to have to answer for that. And everyone was still tired, but they had all been better. Even Odd had picked up and started joking again. Milo still knew they needed a vacation. So he had made the Mini-Scans to take to his aunt's beach house in Majorca in case Xana attacked while they were there. She had said he could invite up to five friends. He was looking forward to spending Christmas on the beach. And giving the Hoppers the Christmas reunion of their lives.

"Majorca? Are you joking?" asked Jeremy at the assembly of the Lyoko Squad. "With the Mini-Scans? Yes! Of course I'll go!"

"Me too!" said Odd.

"I'm in," said Yumi.

"Can't wait," said Ulrich.

"I don't even have parents to say no!" said Aelita. That deflated everyone else a bit.

"We have to call our parents now, don't we?" asked Odd. Jeremy nodded grimly. There was a quick flurry of buttons.

"My parents say they've been trying to get me to go to a beach for years," said Jeremy.

"My dad says hanging out with Milo Salian should be a good influence. He heard about your grades," said Ulrich, smiling.

"My mom gave permission reluctantly," said Odd.

"Same here," said Yumi.

"We're going to Majorca!" said Milo excitedly. "Pack your bags, we leave tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" asked Aelita excitedly. Everyone ran off to pack. Aelita stayed one more minute. "Everyone needed this," she whispered to Milo. "I don't know how you do it, but you're still holding us together."

"Thanks for not letting me give up," said Milo. He grinned.

"Thanks for not letting me go emo," said Aelita, also smiling. And she ran off to pack. Milo already was, so he went up to his room and started the materialization program for Franz. It was going to take the week to perfect, but on Christmas he would finish the process. And then he could use the same program to isolate Xana, and they could go to the internet with Jeremy's programming, and they could finish Xana off. It was going to be a good Christmas.


	26. Chapter 27

He Who Calls

Chapter 27

**Bella**

**Data Entry # 1**

**I am the new Xanadore. Lord Xana found me after William's betrayal and imminent death. William knew me as a child, abducted me, and loved me. It was Xana doing that. He says that he wants me now as he did then. I have searched William's data logs. I have decided to, as he did, make a list of various Lyoko Warriors I wish to kill or keep. Lord Xana has always given Xanadores free reign with this, and I think he shall appreciate my choices.**

**Milo shall become a Xanadore. He has always fought for me, and I loved him because of that. He did not love me back as a human, but as Xanadores he will have no option.**

**Ulrich, I shall try to make a Xanadore of. He is a good fighter, but I am not as certain of him as I am of Milo. I would like him to be with us, but I will not refrain from killing him should the need arise.**

**Odd dies, because he is stupid.**

**Yumi has the same choices as Ulrich. She is smart. It would be nice to have another female on the team.**

Aelita. I hate her so much. I despise her. Dating Milo. She dies painfully. If I can't do it on Lyoko, the Man in Grey will take care of her on Earth.

"The plane is coming in for a landing. Please fasten your seatbelts, and we will be arriving in Majorca in a few minutes. I hope you have enjoyed your flight," chirped the stewardess over the intercom.

"Finally," said Milo. He folded his laptop again. He had been working on the Franz Hopper program. "Two hours of almost nothing."

"What?" asked Aelita. She had done as Milo suggested and taken a nap, and had just woken up. "Are we here?"

"Yeah," said Milo. Then he noticed everyone else was still sleeping. He smiled. "Wake up! We're here!" he said, as he went around and shook everyone.

"Wha? Huh? Damn it!" said Ulrich as Milo shook him. "Don't do that, you little—"

"We're here!" said Milo. "And I have to get back to my seat." He ran back. The plane landed just as he belted himself in.

Twenty annoying minutes later, the group was standing outside of the airport with all their luggage.

"That," said Yumi. "Was the most thoroughly annoying experience of my life."

"It was awful," moaned Odd. "If you guys hadn't put in HACK X, I would have thought that was a Xana attack designed to annihilate us all."

"Look!" said Milo as a yellow van drove up. "Aunt Juanita!" A woman stepped out of the car. She was dark-skinned, and thin. She wore a dress the same color as her car.

"Milo!" she said. "And who are your friends?"

"Yumi Ishiyama, Ulrich Stern, Jeremy Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, and Aelita Hopper," said Milo casually. He thought he saw a flicker of recognition cross Aunt Juanita's face when he mentioned Aelita's name, but then thought it must have been a trick of the light.

After the car ride, they arrived at the beach house. Everyone had been wearing their swimsuits under their clothes since they left Kadic.

"To the beach!" Odd yelled. They all quickly peeled of their clothes and ran down to the ocean. What none had noticed was the grey car following them. A man stepped out, dressed in a grey trench coat, grey boots, and a grey hat that cast a shadow across his face. He slowly walked out after the warriors, pulling something out of his pocket as he walked.


	27. Chapter 28

He Who Calls

Chapter 28

Everyone was splashing around and swimming. Odd's swim trunks were characteristically purple, which was strange compared to Milo's bronze, Ulrich's green, and Jeremy's blue. Yumi wore black and Aelita pink. Milo was chuckling about how addictively they stick to their distinctive colors. He was also throwing a torpedo back and forth with Aelita, each trying to out do the other with acrobatic underwater tricks. Milo cartwheeled three times without touching the ground and tossed the torpedo upside-down. Aelita flipped over and tossed it into the air, kicking it toward Milo as it landed in the water. They continued the patterns. Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich were engaged in a splash fight. They were chasing after Jeremy, who was covering his head with his arms.

The Man in Grey was on a small hill next to the ocean. He clapped a silencer onto his pistol. He slowly lowered it and aimed at Aelita.

"Milo! The hill!" screamed Juanita as she ran out of the house. Milo looked up at the hill as the Man in Grey fired.

"Aelita! Get down!" Milo yelled, and jumped onto her. They fell under the water as the bullet passed. "Run! Everyone!" The Man in Grey was firing randomly down at the Lyoko Warriors as they ran toward the house. One bullet found its mark in Odd's leg.

"Ah! Ow!" he screamed as he fell.

"Odd!" Ulrich shouted. He and Jeremy quickly picked him up and dragged him into the house. They all got in and slammed the door shut.

"Lockdown," said Juanita. The door locked. Steel walls fortified all doors and windows. "Working for the government has its advantages," she said. "But if I had known the Man in Grey was back I would have made you stay in until he was gone. Your father was insane to make anything like him," she said to Aelita.

"You knew my father?" she asked, stricken.

"Maybe I should tell you the whole story," said Juanita.

"Yes," said Milo. "You should."

"It all started with a government project called Project Xanadu," she said. "Franz Hopper and I were supposed to design a virtual world to train soldiers in. We made the world and called it Xanadu. We also made an enemy to try to beat the soldiers. It was a dangerous program, capable of creating horrible monsters on Xanadu. We called it Black Ghost. But Black Ghost got the better of us. It went wild and killed many of the soldiers on the real world through Tower Attacks. It activated towers on Xanadu. And eventually ate it. With all the power of Xanadu in it, we thought we could delete it. But it hung on. When we created another virtual world, we called it Troy. It didn't have an intelligent enemy, just monsters. But Black Ghost infected it. It eventually enveloped Troy as well. At that point we had to stop. But Franz went farther. He created a virtual world called Lyoko. Black Ghost infected it, now calling himself Xana. When the government found out they tried to stop Franz. But he and his daughter Aelita went to Lyoko. Xana didn't like that. So Aelita was locked in a tower and Franz hidden away when the government shut down the supercomputer. Years later you reactivated it. I've been keeping an eye on you. You rescued Aelita, let Xana escape to the internet, rebuilt Lyoko, and incorporated my adopted nephew into your plans. So, Lyoko Warriors, Xana has stopped playing around. The Man in Grey was a robot designed to guard the supercomputer. He was deactivated for a while, but Xana has gotten control of him. The Man in Grey will try his best to assassinate you every time you turn a corner. And I need to know what you plan to do next."

"Is it possible to rebuild Xanadu and Troy?" asked Jeremy, his mind racing.

"I can do it. Why?" asked Juanita.

"Because, Xana wants to destroy Lyoko so we can't fight him. It takes a lot of time to rebuild Lyoko, and, theoretically, we could use Xanadu and Troy as contingency worlds to fight him."

"What are you going to do about the Man in Grey?"

"We're going to have to find a way to destroy it."


	28. Chapter 29

He Who Calls

Chapter 29

"This is an extremely important story, and I realize that, but what about Odd's leg?" asked Yumi.

"I can take care of it," said Juanita. "The Man in Grey isn't as good a shot as he used to be. Normally you would all be dead. As it is the bullet barely penetrated his skin." She picked up Odd and laid him out on a cot. "Do you feel all right?"

"Yeah," said Odd.

"I can give it better attention once we're sure the Man in Grey is gone. A long time ago I put a tracker on him. I haven't checked it since, but maybe now there's a use for it," said Juanita.

"Where is it?" asked Milo.

"The terminal is in the other room," she said. Then she palmed a remote control button and a computer screen flipped open. "Go check it, I have to make sure Odd isn't infected."

"It's flying towards Portugal," Milo said. "I think it will arrive in one hour."

"All right. Milo, Jeremy, Aelita, get programming. Odd, I'll take care of the bullet. Ulrich, Yumi, you two are on Man in Grey watch. Keep an eye on the tracker and the other computers around it," said Juanita, flipping open more computer screens all around.

"Okay," said Milo. "I'll set up the Mini-Scan mainframe and scanners, Jeremy, you work on Troy, Aelita, you work on Xanadu."

"All right," they said, and ran to computers. Milo pulled wires and boxes out of his suitcases. He started plugging things in and crossing wires very quickly.

One hour later, everyone's work was starting to take shape. Odd was bandaged up and the bullet was removed, Xanadu, Troy, and the Mini-Scans were all almost complete. The one bad thing was that the Man in Grey had arrived in Portugal, gone to Milo's adoptive family, and then set a course for America. Then didn't know what he had done in Portugal, but they could guess. A few minutes later, confirmation arrived.

"Dear Juanita Black and Milo Salian," Ulrich read off one of the screens he had been watching. "We regret to inform you that Alfred and Madison Black were murdered in their house in Portugal at 7:03 p.m. The perpetrator is as of yet uncaught. We assure that we are doing everything we can to bring him to justice. Yours truly, the Portuguese Police Department. Milo…"

"Are you okay?" asked Aelita tentatively. Milo walked out of the room without saying a word.

"He isn't okay," Jeremy translated bluntly. "Juanita, are you okay?"

"Enough to keep working," said Juanita. "Milo may be a while. This is the second family he's lost."

"The Man in Grey set a course for America," said Ulrich. "The Della Robbia family!"

"We can't do anything!" said Juanita. "Any communications out of this house will be monitored by the government."

"We can say an unknown force is trying to assassinate us and our families," said Jeremy.

"All right," said Juanita. She typed a few things in, addressed it to Odd's parents, hit send, and then a horrible look came across her face. "The government is blocking our communications."


	29. Chapter 30

He Who Calls

Chapter 30

_Journal of Milo Salian_

_Worst Day of My Life_

_My second family is dead. Xana ruins everything. The Man in Grey is setting a course for America, which probably means Odd is next. But they can warn his parents. They can't bring back mine. I'm really lucky I have no tendencies toward suicide. If I had killed myself as many times as I've had a reason to I'd be a super-ghost. I also have no tendencies towards emo. When things get too hard for me I just… withdraw from reality._

"Why? On what grounds? What are we going to do now?" asked Jeremy frantically.

"In that order, for our own protection, emergency powers, and keep on programming," said Juanita.

"I'm scared now," said Aelita. "There's a real assassin after us, we can't get to Lyoko, Milo's depressed, and all your families are getting hunted down."

"I'm not so depressed," said Milo as he walked into the room. "And I can finish these Mini-Scans up, so that takes care of another problem." He stepped up, put in two more wires, pulled up a screen, and the Mini-Scans popped open.

"Milo!" said Aelita excitedly. And suddenly Milo was in the center of a huge group hug.

"The Man in Grey is arriving in California," said Juanita. "We have to get you to Lyoko quickly if we want to save Odd's parents."

"Right. Aelita, Milo, Yumi. You guys go. Ulrich, stay here and fight off Man in Grey if he comes," said Jeremy. Aelita, Milo, and Yumi stepped into the Mini-Scans. "Mini-Transfer: Aelita, Yumi, Milo. Mini-Scan: Aelita, Yumi, Milo. Virtualization."

The three dropped onto the Mountain Sector.

"So where's the tower?" asked Milo.

"I… Can't find it," said Jeremy. "It must be cloaked. Only visible on Lyoko. You'll have to find it on your own."

"Or with my help," said a voice.

"Bella?" asked Milo.

"Could be," she said. And she jumped down from the ledge. She wore a skintight suit like most on Lyoko did, with a whip tied at her side. Her long black her was now down to her waist. "Xana needed a new assistant after all."

"You're a Xanadore," said Milo. "Just a Xanadore. No free will at all. This isn't what I saved you for."

"This is the same Bella?" asked Yumi. "The one you saved years ago?"

"That's me," said Bella. "I'm William's replacement. And I've been instructed not to let Aelita pass. Only Milo and Yumi." She pulled out her whip and lashed it at Aelita. Yumi jumped in the way.

"Stop the Man in Grey!" Yumi said as she faded.

"Bella," said Milo softly. "What happened to you? You didn't let Xana conquer you when he was disguised as William. But when he reveals himself you bow down?"

"It isn't bowing down. It's joining the winning team," said Bella.

"That's the same thing as HAT GET HER AELITA GET THE TOWER!" Milo's hat flew off his head toward Bella. It stuck in her stomach and she oozed back into the Digital Sea. Aelita ran into the tower. She pressed a hand to the panel and the data rushed to the ground.

"Tower deactivated," she muttered. "Jeremy? Did we make it?"

"Not quite," said Jeremy sadly. "Odd's parents are dead."


	30. Chapter 31

He Who Calls

Chapter 31

"Sam: How are you?" muttered Odd as he typed. The news about his parents hadn't reached him yet and he was instant messaging Sam. Juanita had a program that let them hear each other's voices if they said what they typed.

"As if you don't know," she said, sounding angry. "First you ask me to take care of your room for you while you were off with your friends. And then I find out then one of them isn't just a friend."

"What?"

"I found your letters to Aelita. So sweet for her. I didn't find any for me."

"I wrote those while you weren't at Kadic!"

"I didn't have a single romantic interest the whole time I was in the states because I thought we were being faithful to each other. I see I was wrong. So, Odd, I am officially dumping you. Our relationship has been too bumpy for too long for me to keep this up. As a last favor to you I will continue to keep your room clean, and I'll hide the letters where I found them. End conversation." The chat screen disappeared.

"What? No!" said Odd. "Why do I always lose in the end?"

"Odd? Are we interrupting something?" asked Jeremy as he walked in with Ulrich, Milo, Aelita, and Yumi.

"No. Did you stop the Man in Grey?"

"Technically, yes," said Jeremy. "But not… Not before he reached your parents."

"Are you saying they're dead?"

"Yeah," said Jeremy. "We're really sorry."

"You're not the only one," Milo said. "I know how it feels."

"Do you know how it feels to be dumped on the same day?" asked Odd. He felt terrible. The worst things that could've happened to him all happened in one day.

"No," said Milo, unfazed. "But this is the second family I've lost."

"But you didn't lose Aelita."

"I know how it feels," said Jeremy. "Emily and I discontinued our relationship right before I left."

"Why didn't you tell us?" demanded Ulrich.

"It didn't matter too much," said Jeremy. "She just wanted to move on. We're still good friends."

"Let's all just sleep on all of this," said Milo. "It's late. The good news is, the Man in Grey was paralyzed over the ocean, so we're pretty sure he's gone for good."

"All right. Let's sleep," said Odd.

An hour later it was midnight. Juanita had gone to bed at ten. Odd was still awake. He was sitting in front of a Mini-Scan, holding a knife. The knife was pointed at his ribs, and he was seriously considering plunging it in.

"Don't do it, Odd," said a voice. Milo was standing in the doorway. "We still need you."

"You need a guy who can't go to Lyoko?"

"We need you as a friend." And with that he ran forward and kicked the knife out of Odd's hand. Everyone else including Juanita ran out of the shadows. Aelita caught the knife, threw it in the fireplace, Ulrich poured gasoline all over it, Jeremy threw a match in, and Juanita sealed the bombproof fireplace as it blew up.

"You guys really had that planned out, didn't you?" asked Odd.

"Yeah," said Milo. "And you're bunking with me tonight so we can make sure you don't try again."

"All right."

"Also, I'm making an announcement tomorrow. So everyone should sleep now. It's big." They all went to sleep.

The next day, Aelita and Jeremy showed up in the living room early for Milo's announcement. Thankfully Odd seemed to have given up on suicide.

"Hey, Aelita," said Jeremy. "Things going smooth with Milo?"

"Yeah," she said, wondering why he would bring that up. "Ulrich and Yumi are doing well too."

"I was just wondering," Jeremy said. "I'm free again. Do you want to, I don't know, pick up where we left off?"

"I can't believe you'd ask that!" He was leaning in. She backed away. She walked back to the wall, and couldn't back up anymore. He leaned in and their lips met. His arms wrapped around her waist. And Milo, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and Juanita walked in. Jeremy stepped away. "This isn't what it looks like!" Aelita called as Milo ran out of the room.


	31. Chapter 32

He Who Calls

Chapter 32

"Let me through," said Aelita desperately. She was standing outside Milo's room. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd had formed a human wall in front of his door.

"Convince us you weren't cheating," said Odd.

"Was Milo doing something bad?" asked Yumi. "Did he give you reasons to want to do this sort of thing?"

"No, Milo didn't do anything bad, and I wasn't—"

"If Milo didn't do anything bad, you were cheating!" shouted Yumi, her eyes filling with tears. "You're a whore!"

"Whoa," said Ulrich. "Don't go too far on this. How do we know Aelita's lying? Maybe Jeremy did attack her."

"Oh, come on," said Odd. "'This isn't what it looks like' is the worst response ever."

"But don't you think Jeremy might have been acting a little too slick through this whole thing?" argued Ulrich. "A little too prepared? We know he just broke up with Emily—"

"Which gave Aelita the perfect opportunity to get back with him," said Yumi, still barely keeping her tears in her eyes. "Maybe they were even dating when Jeremy was dating Emily too. Maybe they're both cheaters. But that doesn't make Aelita any less guilty!"

"We don't know whether Jeremy attacked her or not!" said Ulrich again. "Think about it. What would Aelita stand to gain from lying if she knew Jeremy was openly admitting she had been cheating? If Aelita's story is true, Jeremy is lying and easily gaining Aelita. We, playing stooges, don't let her see Milo until she can prove things. Their relationship decays as every day Milo grows more certain Aelita is cheating. Aelita knows we're furious at her and Yumi thinks she's a whore, so she has to turn to Jeremy, which is what he wanted all along. Doesn't that seem a little too convenient for Jeremy?"

"But the flaw is if that's true, Aelita would hate Jeremy for screwing up everything," said Yumi loudly. "Why would she turn to him? Jeremy could figure that out!"

"Unless he thinks that Aelita likes him back," said Odd, picking up the train of thought. "He might think his kiss enthralled her, made her like him even through everything he's done."

"All right," said Yumi. "Let me get this straight. Either Jeremy attacked Aelita or Aelita is an adulteress?"

"Aside from the fact that adultery only applies when you're married, that's the general idea," said Aelita. "And I'm not an adulteress. Therefore Jeremy attacked me."

"We have to go talk to Jeremy about this," said Odd. "Aelita, I'm convinced. I say you can see Milo."

"I think you're innocent. I say go in," said Ulrich.

"I'm not so sure," said Yumi. "But go in. Convince Milo and you have a majority of four to one. Plus undecided me."

"What happens if I have a minority that believes me?" asked Aelita.

"Expulsion from the group," said Odd. "Until further notice. But don't worry. Milo will join your cause. Besides, the worst that could happen at this point is a tie, if Milo and Yumi go on Jeremy's side. Go in." Aelita walked into the room. Milo was sitting at his laptop on his desk, typing furiously.

"You know," he said, looking up at her. "If you wanted to date Jeremy instead of me, you could have just said so. There was no need to cheat."

"That's what I'm here about," said Aelita. "I swear to you on whatever in the universe you like, I did not cheat on you."

"Swear on yourself," said Milo bitterly. "Know forever that if you're lying now, you are unworthy to be in this universe, and everyone knows it. Take that vow and I'll believe you, because I don't think you could live with the guilt of knowing everyone hated you."

"I swear on my self, my honor, my integrity, and my innocence," said Aelita. "Further more I plan to get back at Jeremy for attacking my self, challenging my honor, throwing my integrity into question, and tainting my innocence."

"Was that an oath of revenge?"

"Yes. And it's well deserved. Yumi thinks I'm a whore."

"I know this is undeserved, but just to be sure, you're not a whore, are you?"

"No. And I do deserve that for letting Jeremy within ten feet of me."

"Let's go ask Jeremy about this," said Milo with a grin. He took Aelita's hand, and they walked out the door to find Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Juanita. Odd and Ulrich were holding Jeremy by the shoulders, and he was struggling to get away. Yumi and Juanita were holding another Jeremy down, and he was also struggling to get away.

"Milo," said Juanita. "One of them is the Man in Grey."


	32. Chapter 33

He Who Calls

Chapter 33

"This explains everything," said Milo. "Except… The Man in Grey died."

"Xana made copies," said Juanita. "Whenever on dies he uploads the memories into another. The Man in Grey can also changes shape like a polymorphic. Only one of them can ever be active at once though, because the Man in Grey can think and remember and he can only exist mentally once. It has to do with brain science and I don't really understand, but my colleagues assure me we have the only active Man in Grey right here."

"The question is, which one is the Man in Grey?" said Odd. "Quick! Jeremy we have! What is your deepest, darkest secret?"

"What sort of a question is that?" asked Jeremy One angrily. "You don't know the answer!"

"We have your journal," said Odd. "And I found the entry titled 'Secrets.' So talk. What's your secret?"

"I was only dating Emily to make Aelita jealous!" Jeremy blurted. "I wasn't going to tell, but that's the honest truth. That's my secret."

"Jeremy Two. What's you're secret?"

"This is what I deserve," said Jeremy Two. "Having to reveal this."

"Just talk," said Ulrich impatiently.

"The day Aelita and Milo started dating I formulated three plans to kill him," Jeremy Two said.

"Check the entry, Odd," said Ulrich.

"Blah, blah, blah, here we go. Dating Emily to get Aelita jealous is the correct answer. Get Jeremy Two!" They all jumped as the Man in Grey shifted to his default form. He pulled out a pistol, aimed at Aelita, and was about to fire when everyone landed on him. He quickly elbowed Ulrich in the head, knocking him out. He repeated the process with Yumi, Odd, and Jeremy. He held Aelita in place as he reached for his gun. But he quickly realized the Milo had it.

"Never come back," said Milo. "And tell Bella I said good-bye." He shot the Man in Grey in the head. Aelita ducked as shrapnel blew all over the room from the explosion.

"So," said Odd as he came to. "One question remains. Jeremy, was it you who kissed Aelita, or the Man in Grey?"

"That question has two answers," said Jeremy. "The Man in Grey was the one who said Aelita was cheating. I would have admitted it was me. And, in fact, it was me who kissed Aelita."

"Jerk," said Milo promptly. But then he smiled. "Then again, I'm about to read your whole journal then tell Emily why you dated her, so we're square. You have to figure out what you can do to make it up to Aelita."

"What can I do, guys?" Jeremy asked desperately. "I know what I did was wrong, but what can I do to make it up to all of you?"

"After Milo reads your journal, you can hand-type it into the computer and print us all copies," said Yumi.

"And after that you can post it on the Kadic homepage online except the parts about Lyoko," said Odd.

"Right before you dress up like Sissi, stand on a table at lunch, and sing 'I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt,'" said Ulrich.

"Is that it?" asked Jeremy hopefully.

"Plus whatever Aelita makes you do," said Milo. "And she took an oath of revenge, so don't expect pity."

"All right, Aelita, what do you say?" asked Jeremy with a sigh.

"As you're so obsessed with me, write a poem about how our love can never be since I'm already dating Milo," said Aelita. "Then get it published in the school paper."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Soon you're going to be the most utterly humiliated kid in school. But you'll also be our friend again. So, who's up for a party tonight?"

"Me!" everyone said simultaneously.


	33. Chapter 34

He Who Calls

Chapter 34

It was late at night on Christmas Day. The Lyoko Warriors were sitting in Aelita's room with a pizza, popcorn, soda, chocolate, and every other awesome party thing known to man.

"I haven't revealed my present yet," said Milo. "To Aelita, mainly, but we need the Mini-Scans to run it."

"All right," said Ulrich, and they ran out into the hall.

"I've been working on it for a while," said Milo as he typed. "And may I present to you, Franz Hopper!" A man materialized in the Mini-Scan. He took off his orange glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Aelita?" he said.

"Father?" she asked tentatively.

"How did I get off the internet?"

"Milo did it!" said Aelita excitedly. "He was working on the virtualization program this whole time!"

"Milo? Is that the boy who reactivated the supercomputer and Xana?"

"No, that was Jeremy."

"I know about people called Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich, and I knew they had a friend who activated the computer. Who is Milo?"

"The new team member. My boyfriend."

"Oh, well, you could've mentioned you were dating him. Where is he?"

"Um, here," said Milo. He stepped away from the computer. "I'm Juanita Black's adoptive nephew."

"Son," said Juanita. "I just finished the process and I adopted you, and Odd. Franz, is that you?"

"Juanita? You're the one harboring the Lyoko Warriors? I should have guessed," he said with a smile. "It's good to see you again, old friend."

"So Milo and I are brothers now?" asked Odd.

"Yeah," said Milo. "Not stepbrothers or half-brothers, even. Brothers. Adoptive brothers."

"Father," said Aelita. "It's Christmas and we're in a state of lockdown. No one can come in or go out. Because Xana has made copies of the Man in Grey."

"Oh, no," said Franz. "What has the Man in Grey done?"

"Killed Milo's and Odd's parents, for a start," said Yumi. "Then made us think Aelita was an adulteress and a whore. We've killed two, but Xana has tons more."

"How exactly did he make Aelita look like a whore?" asked Franz, now apparently interested. "He doesn't know a thing about emotions. How did he manipulate yours?"

"He learned from Xana," said Aelita before anyone could go into a detailed explanation. "It's good to see you again, even after all this time."

"It's… Good to see you too," said Franz. "But we'll have time for celebration after I've figured out how I can help."

"All right. Jeremy and I are recreating Xanadu and Troy. Milo is trying to isolate Xana's hiding places so we can virtualize there. Odd is recovering from when the Man in Grey shot him in the leg. Ulrich and Yumi are watching out for Xana attacks. And Juanita is healing Odd's leg. He can walk now, by the way, but he can't fight yet."

"All right. What were you all doing right before you virtualized me?"

"Um…" Aelita muttered as everyone's eyes went straight to the floor. "Christmas party."

"Well then," said Franz with a smile. "You better get back to it. Juanita and I can reprogram Troy and Xanadu in minutes."

"All right. Just don't get too close. You can't have a romantic relationship without ruining mine," said Aelita, smiling back. The Lyoko Warriors ran off to have their party.

"Do kids always joke like that?" Franz asked Juanita, confused.

"Always," said Juanita wearily. "Always."


	34. Chapter 35

WARNING! I wrote this chapter because I thought it would be funny. If you don't like one huge joke chapter, just skip to chapter 36.

He Who Calls

Chapter 35

"Wow, Milo," said Aelita, blushing. "Can you let any occasion go by without getting me an even better present then the last?"

"If I did that, we wouldn't have any reason to celebrate," said Milo with a grin. He was holding a half eaten pizza slice in one hand and a soda can in the other.

"Who's up for Truth or Dare?" Odd shouted. Everyone raised their hands, and they all sat in a circle. "All right," said Odd, looking around. "Jeremy. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," said Jeremy.

"If you could take back that kiss you forced on Aelita to avoid all the punishment, would you?"

"Nope. It was worth it."

"Jerk," muttered Milo.

"Agreed," said Aelita. "But he is being terribly punished."

"Odd. Truth or dare?" said Jeremy.

"Truth," said Odd.

"Now that Sam dumped you, are you going to pursue Aelita again?"

"If you mean, 'Am I going to attack her?' the answer is no."

"What if I mean are you going to like her again?"

"Still no. She likes Milo." Aelita and Milo audibly sighed with relief. "Very funny. Aelita. Truth or dare?"

"Truth. Someone else is going to do a dare eventually."

"I'll do one," said Milo. "I'll hate myself for this in the morning, but I'll do one. Odd, what's the question?"

"If Milo suddenly dropped dead, would you agree to go out with Jeremy?"

"If every male life form in the world except Jeremy dropped dead I wouldn't go out with him," said Aelita.

"Ouch," said Jeremy. "But then again, she didn't say females too. So maybe if I get rid of everyone…"

"Don't even think about it," said everyone else in unison. "Milo," Aelita went on. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Eat a spoonful of mustard."

"I hate mustard. Fine, I'll do it. Go get me the mustard." Everyone ran out to fill a spoon with mustard.

"Here," said Aelita, handing him the mustard spoon. He stuck it in his mouth, and then ran outside the room, spat as much out as he could into the sink, and used the spray gun in it to shoot water down his throat. Everyone was laughing when he got back.

"Yeah, it's funny," said Milo. "It's flipping hilarious. Yumi. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," said Yumi. "After that display of bravery how could I resist?"

"I dare you to paint your nails neon pink and wear a bright green tuxedo until we've all passed out from laughing."

"Milo, you really suck. Where am I going to get a green tuxedo and pink nail polish?"

"I have pink nail polish," said Aelita. "Sissi gave it to me as payment to dump Milo. I told her I wouldn't and I didn't like the nail polish, but thanks anyway."

"So where do I get a green tuxedo?"

"I have one," said Odd. Everyone stared at him. There was a short, uncomfortable silence "Don't ask."

"Fine," said Yumi. "Go get the stuff." In two minutes everyone else was lying on the floor, trying to breath, and Yumi was standing up in the most ridiculous outfit anyone had ever seen. She took off the tux and she was still wearing her normal clothes underneath. "Milo, you really, really suck."

"Yeah," he said, sitting back up as everyone else did too. "It's actually one of my redeeming qualities."

"Odd. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"I'll give you a choice of questions. What did you write in those never-sent letters to Aelita?"

"The other question?"

"Why do you have a green tuxedo?"

"Whoa. Don't go there. I'll read my letters to Aelita." Aelita smacked a hand to her forehead. Everyone else smiled a little.

"Why are almost all these questions about me?" asked Aelita.

"You're an interesting individual and you've got a boy who was willing to attack you just to kiss you once," said Ulrich. "Don't you think we're curious?"

"Letter number one," murmured Odd under his breath. Milo pulled out a small microphone he had built as a science fair project and tossed it onto Odd's neck. His voice became boomingly loud, no matter how quietly he talked. "Hilarious," Odd boomed, glaring. "I have to wear this?"

"You have to wear that," Yumi confirmed.

"Letter number one of six. _Dear Aelita. I'm writing this because I know you'll probably never read it. Ulrich says that everyone can see I adore you. Could you see that? Could you see my eyes following you no matter what you did? Feeling so elevated every time you rode my overboard with me? Even before you came to Kadic, I was interested. When you did come, I was enchanted. I still am. I always will be. Love from Odd Della Robbia. _Do I really have to read more?"

"You really have to read more," said Yumi.

"Does he?" asked Aelita. "That was… really, really creepy. But at least you don't feel like that anymore, right?"

"Right," said Odd with relief.

"Okay, that was enough," said Yumi. "And it was… really, really creepy."

"Can we sleep now? It's one in the morning," said Ulrich.

"After you answer one question," said Odd.

"Fine."

"If Yumi were dead, who would you be trying to date?"

"Emily Leduc."

"All right. Now we can sleep." Everyone got into their sleeping bags and passed out.


	35. Chapter 36

He Who Calls

Chapter 36

Journal of Aelita Hopper 

_Woke Up Early_

I woke up early to get a chance to write. That was the funniest party I've ever been to. But I haven't been to too many. I think the reason everyone went to such lengths is because it was a collective party for Odd, Jeremy, Yumi, and Ulrich. Their birthdays passed, but we didn't have time to celebrate until now. But even while we have fun, we know we're close to wiping out Xana once and for all. And another Man in Grey might be active by now.

Milo sat up in his sleeping bag and wiped a gummy worm off his forehead.

"How the hell did that get there?" he wondered aloud.

"Odd's Gummy Worm Post-Midnight Madness," said Aelita. She was sitting up in bed. She snapped a book shut and looked around. The floor was completely covered in gummy worms. "He woke us up at two in the morning, we all got sugar high from eating three bags of gummy worms each, and then we all passed out from sugar crash."

"How come you remember that and I don't?"

"No one else does except Odd. It's because we lost our sugar highs before we passed out."

"That explains your gummy carpet."

"If any maid we hired wasn't likely to be the Man in Grey, I'd hire a maid."

Juanita poked her head in through the door.

"Milo, Aelita. You're up. Xanadu and Troy are complete."

"And," Franz added. "There's a very interesting way through to the internet which we think you can use to annihilate Xana."

"Should we wake everyone else up?" asked Milo.

"No, let them sleep. You two are the expedition team."

"Me too!" said Odd. No one had realized he had woken up. "Milo and Aelita can't cope on their own. They have no vehicles."

"I can flip off myself and fly indefinitely," said Milo.

"I have wings," said Aelita. "But we're still glad to have Odd along. And maybe you should send the Overwing and the Overbike too. You never know if they'll be useful."

"All right. Get in the Mini-Scans." They did. "Scanner, Milo, Aelita, Odd. Transfer, Milo, Aelita, Odd. Translation, Milo, Aelita, Odd. Virtualization."

Milo appeared already sitting on the Overbike, Aelita on the Overwing, and Odd on the Overboard. Three landmasses seemed to be touching under them. In a triangular gap between, there was a swirling vortex.

"Those islands are Xanadu, Troy, and Lyoko," said Franz Hopper's voice. "You have to go into the gap. That'll take you to 1Base."

"And that is?"

"The first of six of Xana's bases. He keeps sixths of his essence in each of them. Each base is designed so that only one person's attack can destroy the Fragment. That person has to make it to each base. And it's always a different person for a different base, except for 6Base which we know almost nothing about."

"Who do we have to keep alive this time?"

"Odd. Get him to 1Base. Xana doesn't know we know, so hurry. Through the Rabbit Hole." They all dove down on their vehicles into the misty triangle.


	36. Chapter 37

He Who Calls

Chapter 37

"I feel like I'm being flushed down the toilet," Milo said as he, Odd, and Aelita were spun around and around in a vortex between three worlds. Odd was sticking his hands in the air and whooping. Aelita was covering her mouth and moaning. The vehicles had vanished the second they flew into the Rabbit Hole. "Hey, I think we're close to the end, don't—" He was cut short as they dropped through into a strange area. It looked a lot like Sector Five, but everything was purple. Two figures stood straight across from them in the room.

"Milo," said Bella. "And you brought your girlfriend and your pet cat. Are you moving in?"

"How nice to see you, Milo," said another voice. A boy shorter then Bella with no hair at all stepped forward. His skintight suit was relatively standard, but his right hand ended in a strange cannon-like shape. He wore a small crown on his bald head. "Remember me? From Portugal?"

"Hi, King," said Milo. "I'm glad to see you too. You owe me money."

"I'm a Xanadore now. What do I need with money?"

"Is that an excuse for never paying me back?"

"Just shut up, Milo. You aren't in control anymore," said King coldly.

"Who's the baldy?" asked Odd as he aimed his arrows surreptitiously.

"King," said Milo. "A thief from the streets of Portugal. You're never glad to see him unless he owes you money. I shaved his head with William's knife after I learned he was trying to help William any way he could. His hair never grew back."

"All thanks to you, Milo," said King. "William is dead, but Xana is assembling an army."

"Do you have to say my name every time you talk? It's really weird," said Milo.

"Shut up, Milo!" he roared. He pointed his right hand at him and seemed to vanish with a bang, just as some projectile flew at Milo. He rolled out of the way. When the bomb hit the ground, it unfolded and stood up. It was King. "Milo, do you like my powers?" King asked, seething.

"You do realize you're still saying my name every time, right?" said Milo interestedly. "Or is it subconscious?"

"Don't let him rile you," Bella said quietly. Her arms were folded. "We just have to stop Odd getting by and 1Base is safe." Odd chose that minute to fire an arrow into Bella's Eye of Xana. She turned into the liquid and flowed straight up through the Rabbit Hole. Her Eye of Xana was prominently displayed on each shoulder pad. Milo was still searching for one on King. Then he saw it on the side of the cannon-hand. Just as King shot himself at Odd, Aelita threw an energy field. He dodged. Odd fired three laser arrows at him. Each one hit as he turned to liquid.

"They lost," said Milo. "They lost and we can take 1Base down."

"Not yet," said Aelita. Two Tarantulas, a Creeper, and a Black Manta were dropping out of the vortex. Odd shot at them as they fell. Milo threw his hat up and it destroyed the Creeper and a Tarantula before one shot it. It clattered to the floor.

"My hat!" Milo exclaimed. Aelita and Odd finished off the last two monsters, only getting shot once in the process. "Odd, go!" said Milo. They ran down a long hallway, security guns shooting at them as they ran. Milo scooped up his hat. He flipped it around multiple times and blocked various shots at Odd. When a mass cloud of shots fell toward Odd, Aelita jumped in the way.

"Destroy 1Base. Destroy a Fragment of Xana," she said as she vanished. The end of the hall was near. One final shot hit Milo as Odd opened the door.

"Go," said Milo as he returned to Earth. Odd ran in and shut the door. As he walked into the room, a light followed him. He walked up to the back of the room. There was a small pedestal. On it there was a yellow Eye of Xana with a spot in the middle, shaped just like one of Odd's arrows.

"The Fragment," Odd breathed. He lowered his arm toward it and shot. The arrow landed perfectly in the notch. The Fragment turned the same shade of purple as the walls. Then it blew into a million pieces, which then vanished. The walls started to vanish. The floor was going faster. Everything turned into a matrix of lines then flaked away. Including Odd, as he returned to Earth.

Everyone had gotten up and was watching when Odd stepped out of the tube.

"Did you do it?" asked Ulrich. "Is 1Base gone?"

"Yes," said Odd. "Xana is one sixth dead." Everyone clapped and cheered.


	37. Chapter 38

He Who Calls

Chapter 38

_Journal of Odd Della Robbia_

_A Sixth of the Way There_

_We are one-sixth towards Xana's annihilation. If everyone else can destroy the Fragments, Xana is dead. The future is very bright, because taking 1Base was not very hard. Then again, since we can only mount an expedition a day, we can't mess up. It will be extremely hard to mount a successful attack from the factory, and there are five days until Christmas break is over._

The next day, they were preparing an expedition to 2Base. Ulrich was necessary to destroy it. Aelita and Milo were wiped out, so Yumi and Odd consented to go. Jeremy sat at the computer.

"Scanner, Transfer, Translation, Virtualization," said Jeremy as the three dropped through the Rabbit Hole. Franz and Juanita were watching for various threats at other terminals.

"That's weird," said Odd. "This is just like 1Base, only everything is green." It was.

"I see Milo isn't with you," said Bella as she and King fell through the Rabbit Hole and landed in front of them. "Oh, that must mean it's a great time for an attack!"

"Guys! A tower's been activated!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Send… Milo… And Aelita…" said Odd as he dodged whiplashes.

"A tower has been activated on Xanadu!" said Jeremy. Aelita and Milo were already in the Mini-Scans.

"Xanadu?" asked Milo as the doors shut. He and Aelita appeared in strange surroundings. They looked the same, but everything else was a completely random color. A seventy-five mile tall tower loomed in the distance with a red aura around it. "This is Xanadu?" asked Milo.

"That's Xanadu," Jeremy confirmed.

"Right," said Milo as he and Aelita walked by a red tree. They started to run toward the tower.

Ulrich stood up. They had just finished wiping out King. Bella had just lashed at him, prompting a duck. He had her whip caught on his sword. Odd ran up, shot her in the shoulder, and she vanished.

"Oh, no," said Yumi. Five Tarantulas and five Creepers dropped out of the Rabbit Hole. "Ulrich, try and get through the gauntlet. Odd and I will get rid of these." Ulrich ran up, blocking lasers on his way to the door. When he finally made it through the hallway, the Scyphozoa waited right in front of the door.

"What the hell are those?" asked Milo as five things that looked like Creepers with Tarantula legs crawled around the tower.

"I don't know," said Jeremy. "Just try and get rid of them."

"Roger," said Milo as he threw his hat, blowing up two of the things. Aelita tossed a few energy fields at them. One shot Milo, instantly sending him back to Earth. His hat landed in it as he was shot, though, and Aelita ran into the tower. Fortunately the panel was on the first floor of the tower. Aelita quickly deactivated it.

"What did that tower do, anyway?" she asked as she stepped out of the Mini-Scan on Earth.

"It enabled Xana to create those new monsters," said Jeremy.

"Damn," said Milo. The sentiment was mutual.

Yumi got to Ulrich and chopped off the tentacles right before he was possessed. It hovered away at great speed. Odd had been sent back by the army of Tarantulas and Creepers right before Yumi had gotten rid of the last one. The last security laser devirtualized Yumi right as Ulrich walked through the door.

"You guys okay?" asked Jeremy as Odd and Yumi stepped out of the Mini-Scans.

"Did Ulrich make it?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, yes we are."

Ulrich walked forward to a pedestal at the back of the room. The yellow Eye of Xana sat on it with a niche in the middle shaped like Ulrich's sword point.

"Two down," muttered Ulrich as he plunged his sword into it. It turned the same color as the walls, and then vanished along with Ulrich and 2Base.


	38. Chapter 39

He Who Calls

Chapter 39

**Bella**

**Data Entry # 577**

**King was dismissed as a Xanadore and incinerated after failure to comply with my commands as Xanadore General. The street children Red, Sniper, and Snap have become Xanadores to guard 3-6Bases. Lord Xana is disappointed with me for losing 1Base and 2Base. He says if I lose 3Base I die along with William and King.**

The next day, the 3Base team was ready. Yumi had to go, and Ulrich and Milo were going with her. They were already in the Mini-Scans and Jeremy was pressing the buttons to drop them through the Rabbit Hole.

"Virtualization," he said.

"Hey, 3Base is black," said Milo.

"Just my color," said Yumi as she pulled out a fan. "Bella and King are due to arrive any second." Four figures dropped from the Rabbit Hole.

"More Portugal Street Kids," said Milo. "Red, Sniper, and Snap." Red was entirely red, face included. She had a Morningstar in both hands. Sniper carried a pistol in his hand and a rifle strapped to his back. Snap had his fingers ready to snap, but no visible weapon. Each had the Eye of Xana on both kneecaps.

"They're just drones now," said Bella. "Not even really Xanadores. Just part of a hive mind."

"That's sick," said Milo. Then Sniper shot him in the face and he vanished.

"Milo!" said Ulrich. Then they mowed him down too. Red plunged a Morningstar into him. Yumi backed up against a wall.

"3Base is safe for another day," said Bella as she raised her whip. That was when the Overwing appeared under Yumi and Aelita showed up with an energy field in each hand. She quickly took out Bella and Sniper before Red and Snap got her. Snap snapped his fingers and a huge explosion knocked Aelita back onto Earth. By then, Yumi was flying down the gauntlet on her Overwing. The vehicle was destroyed as Yumi landed right on the door. It flew open and she crashed into the wall. It closed slowly. Yumi was unconscious.

"Yumi? Do you read me?" asked Jeremy. "Yumi! Answer me!"

"I'll go," said Odd. He stepped into the Mini-Scan. When he arrived, the room was empty. He ran into the room. The Scyphozoa was holding Yumi. "Yumi!" he screamed. She looked at him, pulled out her fan, dropped it into the Fragment, and passed out. The Fragment turned black as everything flaked away.

"Odd," Yumi muttered as the Scyphozoa flew out of the Rabbit Hole right before it chipped away, Odd hot on its heels. "Tell Ulrich…" They flew up and out. Odd returned to the real world. Yumi was a prisoner.

"The Fragment is gone," said Odd bitterly as he explained what had happened to everyone. "And Yumi is probably a Xanadore or dead or a prisoner."

"There's only one thing to do," said Franz. Ulrich was crying and Milo and Aelita were looking down sadly. "If we can eliminate the rest of the Fragments then all the Xanadores should revert to their original state. If Yumi is a prisoner, we can find her after Xana is dead."


	39. Chapter 40

He Who Calls

Chapter 40

Yumi sat in the squalid tower on Troy. They Troy towers were really more like huts, very short and dirty with one panel in them. A boy was sitting on the other side. His white and blue suit was completely black from lying in the filth. His huge sword had been taken away with her fans.

"My two little prisoners," a cold voice echoed from above.

"We're dead, aren't we?" asked Yumi. "William died."

"No," said William from the corner. "I never died. Xana took me prisoner."

"And I have another prisoner to add," said Xana. King fell into the room. The Eye of Xana was gone from his hand. Then again, his whole hand had reverted to a normal shape.

"King," said Yumi. "Welcome to prison. William, what happened to you?"

"After I betrayed Xana and sent Milo the secrets of Xanadores, my clothes turned normal again. Xana left my mind. I was dropped with Franz Hopper on the internet then transferred here and locked in, and everyone believed I was dead."

"I have a plan on how to get out of here," said Yumi, leaning in.

"Really?" asked Xana, his voice still echoing. "Do tell."

"He hears everything in here, Yumi," said William. "We're here until he's dead."

"No," said King. "Yumi has to escape. It's part of the plan for 6Base. Don't press me for details. I just know that all the Lyoko Warriors need to be there at 6Base."

"No leaking secrets," said Xana as King rolled and screamed with pain. Yumi jumped up and started typing furiously on the little panel. As Xana concentrated on King, she set her program to 6Base. She would have to wait here until they had destroyed 4Base and 5Base. But she would be there at 6Base, and so would William and King.

**Yumi Ishiyama**

**Data Entry # 1**

**I'm still not a Xanadore. All we can really do here is keep our data logs on this panel. I can't write anything relevant because Xana scans them regularly, but I can write that I won't write anything relevant so I can rub his nose in it. William is remarkably calm. I guess imprisonment does that to him. King is going to go stir crazy. He'll be no help at all in a day and not even lucid in three. I can keep sane by writing this down and talking to William. I can also write this over and over again: 6Base is going down, 6Base is going down. Xana hates it. A lot. I think he's really scared that we're going to kill him in the end. I know we are. Xana's days are numbered.**

_Journal of Ulrich Stern_

_Yumi_

_I can't believe Yumi is gone. She'll be trapped on Lyoko a long time. It will take three more days to beat Xana. I hope we can find Yumi afterward. Everyone is really trying to cheer me up. Odd, Milo, and Aelita did this thing I think was an act but I'm not sure. Odd and I opened the closet on them in the middle of a make-out session. I think they were really doing it just to cheer me up. Milo and Aelita aren't the kind of people who make out in closets. That's more Odd's style. Jeremy is still really trying his hardest to break them up, even through all of this. Sadly for him, they're closer then ever. Yumi isn't going to die, though. And she's too strong to be a Xanadore. I will find her someday. I know it._


	40. Chapter 41

He Who Calls

Chapter 41

"This is for 4Base," said Milo. They were ready for an expedition. Aelita had to blow up the Fragment. Everyone was going. Ulrich had to wait for the second ride, though.

A few confused minutes of scanning later, Ulrich, Milo, Aelita, and Odd stood facing Bella, Sniper, Red, Snap, and two Blocks in the entirely pink 4Base.

"I have a deal for you," said Bella slowly. "4Base is the last Outpost Base. In 5Base and 6Base the gauntlets are longer and the monsters are stronger. We'll give you 4Base and Yumi. But then you have to leave for good."

"That is such a stupid offer," said Milo. "The Man in Grey would just kill us. Do you think we're really so stupid as to EVERYONE ATTACK NOW!" There was a rain of hats and energy fields and various other weapons as the Lyoko Warriors quickly eliminated the Xanadores. Bella ran down the hall and took her place in front of the door to the Fragment Room. She knew that if she couldn't stop Aelita entering the room, she was dead.

When the Lyoko Warriors got up from the battle, Ulrich had been devirtualized.

"Me first," said Odd as he ran down the hall with Aelita behind him, blocking shots. Milo was taking up the rear. As they arrived at the Fragment Room, Bella lashed out at Odd and he was sent back to Earth. Milo quickly grabbed her and they wrestled in the hallways as security lasers shot them down. Aelita stepped into the room. The yellow Eye of Xana sat on the pedestal as usual. Aelita charged an energy field and the pink energy surrounded the symbol. It took on the color of the walls and everything chapped away.

"Aelita," said Bella as she vanished. Milo stood next to her. "Milo, forgive me." She vanished away, but not in a matrix of lines. She seemed to catch fire, and the fire consumed her as Aelita and Milo went back.

"I think Bella is dead because of what we did," said Milo as he stepped out of the scanner. "She's joined William and King in the grave, but the difference is she and King were incompetent, whereas William actively tried to betray Xana."

"Were they incompetent?" asked Aelita. "I think Bella tried to ask you to forgive her right before she died. Does that mean she was going to betray Xana?"

"I think, for all her bragging, she was part of Xana's hive mind too," said Milo. "Maybe he released her as she died. Maybe she isn't dead. Don't ask me to fathom the depths of Xana's tricks. I say we keep on going. Two thirds done, after all. All that remains is my shut down, and then… 6Base."

"And then 6Base," Jeremy concurred. "I just hope we survive."

**Yumi Ishiyama**

**Data Entry # 2**

**Bella showed up today. Apparently Xana decided that only his hive mind minions are trustworthy. I'm learning a lot from the people in this dungeon. I just wish that Bella had been able to do something a little more worthwhile while she was free. If Milo and Aelita could have gotten a hold on her they could have got her back to Earth. But now she's half insane, and when she showed up she was on fire. Xana must have done something really awful to her before he captured her. She's currently incapable of speech, but William and King are trying to heal her. I am too, but I don't think anything will save her except rest and a bit of luck. After all, King isn't going stir crazy, mainly because he sleeps too much. It's funny. He's sort of reminiscent of Milo.**


	41. Chapter 42

He Who Calls

Chapter 42

_Journal of Aelita Hopper_

_Blunted Sword_

_The Lyoko Warriors are like a blunted sword. We were striking deadly while we were sharp, but now we're tired and the two hardest bases still lie ahead. It reminds me of the last time we were tired, which prompted this whole trip to Majorca. But no one has been out of the house in weeks. No one talks about anything happy except what they'll do when Xana is dead. Odd insists that I wrote a whole page in my journal just repeating Mrs. Aelita Salian. I said if he didn't shut up I'd make him dig us an Olympic pool with a toy shovel. He shut up after that._

"5Base," said Milo. "Two more and Xana is gone for good. This one, this will be easy. I'll make it easy." Everyone was going again. As Jeremy chanted the words that gave them headaches, they appeared in the bronze-colored 5Base. Ten of the strange Creeper-Tarantulas stood in their way, but no Xanadores. Milo didn't talk. He jumped over them and started flipping through the hallway extremely quickly. The rest of them battled the things passionately, but they were all eliminated while only destroying two of the things. The monsters chased Milo, but he was almost to the door. He had sworn to make it easy. And that was when he saw Bella at the door.

"Go in," she said. She swung open the great door. "Yumi isn't dead. William isn't dead. King isn't dead. I'll be dead soon, though." She threw herself in front of the creatures as Milo went through the door. It shut behind him. The ugly beasts tore Bella apart. She didn't catch fire or liquidize or become a matrix. She had put all of herself into this, and she was torn to shreds. For the first time on Lyoko, a human being died.

Milo had sworn to make it easy. He shouldn't have. Everyone had been devirtualized quickly, but he made it to the Fragment so no one particularly cared. But Bella was dead. Gone forever. Xana had stolen her soul, and she had given her life. Because Milo wanted it to be easy for him to do his part in destroying Xana. If he had done it the hard way like everyone else, the creatures wouldn't have been able to kill Bella because they wouldn't have survived. Milo reaped his bittersweet reward. He threw his hat into the niche in the Fragment. He fell and wept for his old friend as 5Base collapsed in on itself. But he also cried for joy. Because King, Yumi, and William were not dead. And Bella had proved that it was possible to escape from where they were being held. All life was not destroyed. Only Bella's. And Milo could have prevented it. He didn't. He would fight Xana harder then ever. He would make up for this. That is what Milo decide as he wept for Bella and returned to reality.

Yumi Ishiyama 

**Data Entry # 3**

**Bella went on a suicide mission to help Milo destroy the Fifth Fragment. Unfortunately, she did die. But Xana is now spending all his power on defending 6Base. He doesn't scan out logs anymore. Bella used the same strategy as me for escape. She targeted 5Base. I targeted 6Base, meaning tomorrow I will be free again. Tomorrow Xana will die.**

_Ulrich Stern_

_Alive_

_Yumi is alive! We have physical proof that Yumi is alive! For the first time since Yumi was abducted I feel good again. And I've turned my eye to the future. I'm not going to be a loser in school anymore. I'll ask Milo or Jeremy or Aelita to tutor me. If I can just bump up my grades a little I can get into a good college. Everyone is thinking about it now. It's the next big step._


	42. Chapter 43

He Who Calls

Chapter 43

"This is the final battle," said Odd. "We win here, we win today, and Xana is gone forever. The threat that looms over us is gone. We can be normal kids again; we can do anything we want. Xana may have tried to ruin our lives, but we fought and we will beat him today. Are we ready to go?"

"We are," said Jeremy. "I'm sending you now." In a minute they were on 6Base. The walls were clear blue, a blue that seemed heavenly. But no one stood to oppose them. They walked slowly down the hall, wondering how this had happened. Then a boy walked out of the Fragment Room when they arrived. He had black hair, black eyes. He looked stained.

"Lyoko Warriors," he said in a cold voice. It seemed to echo, though there was no way it could have. "I wanted to meet you face to face before you tried to kill me."

"You… You try to look like a normal human," said Aelita with contempt. "You fool no one. You're a murderer. You're a deceiver. You're a demon." The boy looked right at her. His eyes were very sad. "You're Xana."

"I am Xana," the boy said. "And I regret that."

"You knew what you were trying to do to us," said Milo. "Don't play the innocent."

"I am not. I wish you to kill me for my sins at the end of this conversation. I just want to say I apologize for what has made me. And to make you aware that something has. There is a traitor in your midst. The man who calls himself Franz Hopper."

"What do you mean?" asked Aelita.

"Franz Hopper died. A long time ago. The thing you rescued was a horrible monster. That was what created me. I turned on him, and imprisoned him. And then came the most horrible misunderstanding of all time. I thought you to be trying to bring him back to take over the world. So I tried to kill you and stop you. I knew that a few deaths would be nothing compared to having the Imprisoned One on Earth again."

"But… Then we can't kill you."

"No, no, you can. You see, I am a malfunction in Xana. I am called Xanite. Xana remains faithful to the Imprisoned One. I was trying to kill you. But he was also, just for malice. Xana and the Imprisoned One. I, Xanite, had nothing to do with anything except that I knew I had to tell you this before I died with Xana. Xana is evil He must be destroyed. If the boy called Xanite dies with him, it is just too bad."

"Xanite," said Milo. "We can virtualize you. On Earth. Cut your link to Xana."

"I have cleared the way," said Xanite. "Your friend Yumi can arrive. She is coming. And then you must shut down Xana."

"And what of you?"

"I was a functioning part of Xana for too long. I am still a part of him, just the part that feels compassion. I am dysfunctional. I want to die. Please. Let me sleep. Let me leave this horrid world."

"All right," said Milo. "With Yumi we will destroy Xana. I wish you luck, Xanite." Xanite smiled.

"I will be waiting." He vanished. Yumi appeared where he had been standing.

"Is Xanite gone?" she asked.

"You knew about him?"

"Only learned when I was trapped. Let's shut down this thing and kill the Imprisoned One. Shutting Xana down should do both. Jeremy, did you get all this?" Jeremy said nothing. But someone else did.

"Jeremy is dead. And you will not pass through that door." Everyone recognized the voice as Franz Hopper's. The ran in the doorway of the Fragment Room as the most horrible monsters anyone had ever seen appeared behind them. In the yellow Eye of Xana, there was a notch for each of their weapons. They plugged their weapons in and watched as it turned blue.

"I know who the blue stands for," said Milo as Xana shut down.

"Who?" asked Aelita, weeping with misery and joy.

"It stands for Xanite."


	43. Chapter 44

He Who Calls

Chapter 44

Milo sat up at his desk. He had just been thinking about that day ten years ago when they had shut down Xana and the Imprisoned One, who was calling himself Franz Hopper. That was also the day Xanite had died. Jeremy was mortally wounded, attacked by the Imprisoned One, but Juanita called the ambulance and they managed to save him. He had to get a prosthetic hand and leg, but he was lucky to survive and acted as such. Milo had tutored Odd and Ulrich, and they had all managed to get into Oxford College. Everyone was more surprised then happy at first, but their friendship lasted. Shortly afterward, they had all chosen their careers and some of them had gotten married. Milo had actually proposed to Aelita, and their wedding was a nice one. The same happened for Ulrich and Yumi. Odd had been seeing Milly for a while, after the thing with Tamiya. She had been totally clueless that Tamiya was blackmailing people, and Odd comforted her. Soon after college, they got married as well. Jeremy hadn't married yet.

After everything, they had done what they wanted to do. Milo and Aelita moved back to Portugal and went into politics. Milo had won an election and had completely reinvented Portuguese government. He was now Prime Minister, and Aelita was an ambassador, both of them fighting for the unification of Earth under one government. Ulrich and Odd had started a band, 'The Xanadores,' named in tribute to William and Bella. After William and King had been freed from Lyoko they joined it too. They were the most successful rock group in the world, and they had written a song dedicated to Milo and Aelita about unification. Yumi had done some writing, and she became a bestselling author. Jeremy was working for the French government, making sure they never made a mistake like Xana ever again. He also designed amazing computers, known to be able to do almost anything. Milly had, of course, become a journalist.

Aelita walked into the room.

"It's Reunion Day, Milo," she said. Every year the Lyoko Warriors celebrated the day they had destroyed Xana with a big reunion, and everyone else was scheduled to be here any minute. "Did you remember?"

"Yes," he said. "I was just thinking about the day we did it. Got rid of Xana, I mean."

"I was too. And about Xanite."

"Yeah." Someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it." It was Odd and Milly. She had been filled in on the secrets after marrying Odd.

"Milo," said Odd. "Good to see you again."

"You too. Come in," said Milo.

"Ulrich and Yumi were tailing us the whole way here. They should be parking right now."

"Actually, we're here," said Yumi as she walked up with Ulrich. Everyone walked into the house. "Jeremy won't be here for another ten minutes. He takes 'fashionably late' to a different level." They were in the attic, all of them. That was where Milo had the Mini-Scans stowed away. They had a secret, too. When they went on to Lyoko, they appeared as they had all those years ago. Their unconscious desires still led them to that time of mystery and magic and occasionally true love. They had seen the future, and it was bright. But deep underneath, they saw themselves as those gentle teens, who prayed for a way to eliminate the evil that threatened them.

Jeremy arrived. They went to Lyoko. Their children would one day go onto Lyoko. Because now Lyoko was what its name meant. Now Lyoko was a world without danger.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko.

Milo: Yeah, if he did, I would be in it.

Felix: True. I do own Milo, Juanita, Xanite, the Man in Grey, the Imprisoned One, Bella, King, Red, Sniper, Snap, the Blacks, Troy, Xanadu, (though I got the name from the Garage Kids Pilot,) 1-6Bases, the Mini-Scans, and the plotline.

Aelita: Music.

Felix: Fine, fine. I don't own Belle and Sebastian or any of their songs, but I do own all the ridiculous titles for movies and other stupid things I made up for filler.

Ulrich: Forgetting anything?

Felix: Ok, jeez. Also, I own any OOC behavior. Tamiya is not a blackmailer, Jeremy is not a libidinous weirdo, Odd is not suicidal, etcetera.

Odd: And you're sure that's it?

Felix: Odd's parents may or may not really be dead in the show, but it never really depressed him if they are.

Jeremy: Thanks to the Equal Rights For Computer Geniuses Movement, I get to talk too.

Felix: Go away, Jeremy. This disclaimer was weird, immature, and stupid enough without the ERFCGM butting in.

Jeremy: You're still forgetting something.

Felix: Fine. I own the ERFCGM too.

Everyone Except Felix and Jeremy: Say it ain't so, Felix!

Felix: That's it! Milo, Aelita, go unite the world from Portugal. Ulrich, Odd, go rock out. Yumi, go write heart-wrenching novels for the world to enjoy. Jeremy, go design an awesome computer for me.

Jeremy: In your dreams.

Everyone Except Felix and Milo: (Leaves)

Milo: You _are_ bringing me back in a songfic and every other Code Lyoko fanfic you write, aren't you?

Felix: Unfortunately for me, yes. And maybe your kid if I ever let you have one.

Milo: Just wanted to make sure. You're all right, Felix.

Felix: I'm sentimental, you're fictional. We all have problems. I'll put you in my stories. Go back to Portugal.

Milo: Fair enough. (Leaves.)

Felix: Thank you, Milo. We have the award for longest, stupidest disclaimer wrapped up.


End file.
